In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the CX-70 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Mazda CX-70 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 Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the CX-70’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Rav4 Hybrid doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The CX-70 has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Rav4 Hybrid’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the CX-70 has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Rav4 Hybrid.
Both the CX-70 and the Rav4 Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
The Mazda CX-70 weighs 1063 to 1508 pounds more than the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.