For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Grand Highlander 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 Chevrolet Traverse Limited doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Grand Highlander are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Traverse Limited doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.
The Toyota Grand Highlander 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 Traverse Limited doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Grand Highlander 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 Traverse Limited 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 Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum/Nightshade 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 Traverse Limited doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Grand Highlander 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 Traverse Limited’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Grand Highlander has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Parking Support Brake on the Limited/Platinum/Nightshade automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Traverse Limited and the Traverse Limited’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
The Grand Highlander’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 Traverse Limited doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Grand Highlander and the Traverse Limited have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Toyota Grand Highlander is safer than the Traverse Limited:
|
Grand Highlander |
Traverse Limited |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
38 |
141 |
Neck Tension |
134 lbs. |
446 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.35 in |
1.3 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.5 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
6 MPH |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
1049 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
143 |
189 |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
134 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
89 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Shoulder Deflection |
.67 in |
1.02 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
290 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.1 in |
1.22 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
10 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
446 lbs. |
848 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |