For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Lexus LX have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Tahoe doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
The Lexus LX 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 Tahoe doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The LX 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 Tahoe 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.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the LX. But it costs extra on the Tahoe.
The LX 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 Tahoe’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the LX has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Parking Support Brake automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Tahoe and the Tahoe’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The LX’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 Tahoe doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the LX and the Tahoe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.