For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Grand Highlander 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 Dodge Durango doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
The Grand Highlander has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Durango doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum 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 Durango doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Grand Highlander AWD’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
The Grand Highlander’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 Durango and is not available with SXT.
The Grand Highlander (except XLE) offers an optional Panoramic View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango 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.
Both the Grand Highlander and Durango have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Durango’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
The Grand Highlander’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Durango doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Grand Highlander and the Durango have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Toyota Grand Highlander is safer than the Durango:
|
|
Grand Highlander |
Durango |
| Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
| Restraints |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Head injury index |
112 |
119 |
| Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
| Steering Column Movement Rearward |
5 cm |
9 cm |
| Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Max Chest Compression |
21 cm |
26 cm |
| Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Femur Force R/L |
3.5/1.3 kN |
5.3/2.5 kN |
| Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
1%/0% |
6%/0% |
| Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
| Tibia index R/L |
.69/.57 |
1.53/.59 |