For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid 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 GMC Terrain doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid 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 GMC Terrain doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Corolla Cross Hybrid XSE has a standard Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, Full-Time Four-Wheel Drive is standard on the Corolla Cross Hybrid. But it costs extra on the Terrain.
Both the Corolla Cross Hybrid and Terrain offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the Corolla Cross Hybrid XSE has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Terrain’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The Corolla Cross Hybrid’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 Terrain doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Corolla Cross Hybrid and the Terrain have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid is safer than the GMC Terrain:
|
Corolla Cross Hybrid |
Terrain |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
92 |
109 |
Chest Movement |
.9 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
129 lbs. |
195 lbs. |
Hip Force |
330 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
288 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
55 G’s |
Hip Force |
367 lbs. |
630 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
239 |
377 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
623 lbs. |
730 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Corolla Cross Hybrid is safer than the Terrain:
|
Corolla Cross Hybrid |
Terrain |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
1.73 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.38 in |
1.69 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
8 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Head Injury Criterion |
131 |
733 |
Head Peak Forces |
no contact |
101 G’s |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
491 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
1.65 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
402 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.57 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
7 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Corolla Cross Hybrid the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 98 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Terrain last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.