For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain Wagon 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 Acura RDX doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The RDX doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
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 E-Class All-Terrain Wagon are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The RDX doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has standard whiplash protection, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the whiplash protection system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The RDX doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has a standard Post Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The RDX 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 E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has a standard Maneuvering Brake Function that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The RDX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has Car-to-X Communication, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The RDX doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure or other vehicles.
Both the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon and RDX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has Active Brake Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The RDX’s Rear Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon’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 RDX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon and the RDX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available lane departure warning systems.
The Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain Wagon weighs 517 to 561 pounds more than the Acura RDX. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.