For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Cruz have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Ford Maverick doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
With its standard front crash prevention, the Hyundai Santa Cruz is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Ford Maverick, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
Santa Cruz |
Maverick |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-24 MPH |
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
12 MPH Brights |
-11 MPH |
-11 MPH |
12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH Brights |
-21 MPH |
-18 MPH |
25 MPH Low beams |
-15 MPH |
-11 MPH |
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-13 MPH |
25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
37 MPH Brights |
-33 MPH |
-8 MPH |
Warning Issued-Brights |
1.7 sec |
1.5 sec |
37 MPH Low beams |
-35 MPH |
-3 MPH |
Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.7 sec |
1.3 sec |
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Cruz SEL/SEL Premium/Limited has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Maverick doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Santa Cruz’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Maverick.
The Santa Cruz Limited has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Maverick only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Cruz has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Ford charges extra for Cross-Traffic Alert on the Maverick and the Maverick’s Cross-Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
Compared to metal, the Santa Cruz’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Ford Maverick has a metal gas tank.
Both the Santa Cruz and the Maverick have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Hyundai Santa Cruz is safer than the Maverick:
|
Santa Cruz |
Maverick |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
123 |
146 |
Neck Tension |
245 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-89 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Shoulder Deflection |
-.87 in |
.67 in |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Pelvis Force |
1004 lbs. |
1272 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
70 |
295 |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-45 lbs. |
45 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
2.2 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
580 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.26 in |
1.81 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
12 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
The Hyundai Santa Cruz achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Maverick is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.