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 NX are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Macan doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The NX has standard Intuitive Parking Assist with Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Macan doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The NX 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 Macan’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the NX’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Parking Support Brake automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Macan doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The NX’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 Macan doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the NX and the Macan 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, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.
The Lexus NX achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Macan has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.