For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento 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 Volkswagen Atlas doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
Both the Sorento and Atlas have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento S/EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Atlas’ child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
The Kia Sorento has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Atlas doesn’t offer knee airbags.
With its standard Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, the Kia Sorento is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Volkswagen Atlas, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
|
Sorento |
Atlas |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
| 12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-10 MPH |
|
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-10 MPH |
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
|
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-21 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
| 37 MPH Brights |
-34 MPH |
-28 MPH |
| 37 MPH Low beams |
-33 MPH |
-2 MPH |
| Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.1 sec |
.6 sec |
The Sorento’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 Atlas doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Sorento and the Atlas have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, 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 around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas:
|
|
Sorento |
Atlas |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
30% |
| Neck Stress |
168 lbs. |
412 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
22 lbs. |
59 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.7 inches |
| Neck Compression |
89 lbs. |
117 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
81/191 lbs. |
297/97 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas:
|
|
Sorento |
Atlas |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
51 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.