For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lexus UX 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.
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 UX 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.
Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the UX deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The UX’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The RDX’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.
The UX has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Front Seatbacks system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The RDX doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
With its standard Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, the Lexus UX is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Acura RDX, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
|
UX |
RDX |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
| 25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-16 MPH |
|
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 12 MPH Low beams |
-11 MPH |
-10 MPH |
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-24 MPH |
|
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
| 37 MPH Brights |
-31 MPH |
-31 MPH |
| Warning Issued-Brights |
2.4 sec |
2.2 sec |
| 37 MPH Low beams |
-30 MPH |
No Slowing |
| Warning Issued-Low beams |
2 sec |
No Warning |
The UX 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 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 UX offers an optional Parking Support Brake 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.
Both the UX and RDX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the UX offers optional Parking Support Brake (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 UX’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 UX and the RDX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and rear parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Lexus UX is safer than the Acura RDX:
|
|
UX |
RDX |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| HIC |
116 |
300 |
| Neck Compression |
17 lbs. |
23 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Lexus UX is safer than the Acura RDX:
|
|
UX |
RDX |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
52 |
63 |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
96 |
124 |
| Spine Acceleration |
46 G’s |
52 G’s |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
292 |
486 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.