For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Mirai 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 MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Mirai are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Mirai has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Mirai offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Mirai offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Mirai’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Mirai’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the Mirai and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Toyota Mirai weighs 1112 to 1192 pounds more than the MINI Cooper SE. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.