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 Jeep Compass doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
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 Compass 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 Compass doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
Both the Corolla Cross and Compass have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Corolla Cross XLE has Parking Support Brake (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Compass’ Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Corolla Cross and the Compass have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, 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 Jeep Compass:
|
Corolla Cross |
Compass |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
92 |
102 |
Abdominal Force |
129 lbs. |
134 lbs. |
Hip Force |
330 lbs. |
335 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
43 G’s |
56 G’s |
Hip Force |
367 lbs. |
928 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
239 |
355 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
39 G’s |
Hip Force |
623 lbs. |
663 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 safer than the Compass:
|
Corolla Cross |
Compass |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.94 in |
1.02 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
9 MPH |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
131 |
202 |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
223 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.83 in |
2.13 in |
Shoulder Force |
156 lbs. |
491 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.06 in |
1.77 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
4 MPH |
14 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
892 lbs. |
937 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 Compass last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2022.