For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda CX-70 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 CX-70 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.
With its standard Smart Brake Support, the Mazda CX-70 is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Acura RDX, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
|
CX-70 |
RDX |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
| 12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
| 25 MPH |
-23 MPH |
-16 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 |
-24 MPH |
|
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
| 25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
| 25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
No Slowing |
| 37 MPH Brights |
-33 MPH |
-31 MPH |
| Warning Issued-Brights |
2.4 sec |
2.2 sec |
| 37 MPH Low beams |
-26 MPH |
No Slowing |
| Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.5 sec |
No Warning |
The CX-70 Premium has a standard Secondary Collision Reduction System, 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 CX-70 Premium Plus/Turbo S has standard Rear Smart City Brake Support 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 CX-70 and RDX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the CX-70 has Rear Cross Traffic Braking (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 CX-70’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 CX-70 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, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, 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 and available around view monitors.
The Mazda CX-70 weighs 805 to 1184 pounds more than the Acura RDX. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.