For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Corolla Cross 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 Honda HR-V 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 Corolla Cross are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The HR-V doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Toyota Corolla Cross 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 HR-V doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Corolla Cross 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 HR-V 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 Corolla Cross XLE has a standard Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The HR-V doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Corolla Cross LE/XLE’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 on the XLE automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The HR-V doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Corolla Cross’ 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 HR-V doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The Corolla Cross has standard Safety Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The HR-V doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Corolla Cross and the HR-V have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear parking sensors.
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 Toyota Corolla Cross is safer than the Honda HR-V:
|
Corolla Cross |
HR-V |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
92 |
148 |
Abdominal Force |
129 lbs. |
158 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
357 |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
59 G’s |
Hip Force |
367 lbs. |
385 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
12 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
48 G’s |
Hip Force |
623 lbs. |
799 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
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 Corolla Cross is much safer than the HR-V:
|
Corolla Cross |
HR-V |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
POOR |
Structure |
GOOD |
POOR |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
193 |
325 |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
1.34 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.38 in |
1.42 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
7 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
131 |
359 |
Neck Tension |
67 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
89 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
1.57 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
402 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.57 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
8 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Pelvis Force |
892 lbs. |
1316 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Corolla Cross the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The HR-V last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2018.