For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota bZ4X have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Ford Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Toyota bZ4X has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the bZ4X AWD’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
Both the bZ4X and the Mustang Mach-E have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
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 Toyota bZ4X is safer than the Mustang Mach-E:
|
bZ4X |
Mustang Mach-E |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
105 |
115 |
Neck Tension |
156 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
22 lbs. |
45 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.51 in |
1.42 in |
Shoulder Force |
134 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.22 in |
1.42 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
7 MPH |
9 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Shoulder Deflection |
.63 in |
.87 in |
Shoulder Force |
223 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |