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 A4 Allroad doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
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 A4 Allroad doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The E-Class All-Terrain Wagon 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 and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the A4 Allroad’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Active Brake Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Audi charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Assist on the A4 Allroad.
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 A4 Allroad doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the E-Class All-Terrain Wagon and the A4 Allroad 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, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available lane departure warning systems.
The Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain Wagon weighs 728 pounds more than the Audi A4 Allroad. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.