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 bZ4X are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q4 e-tron doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Toyota bZ4X has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q4 e-tron doesn’t offer knee airbags.
With its standard Pre-Collision with Pedestrian Detection, the Toyota bZ4X is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Audi Q4 e-tron, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
bZ4X |
Q4 e-tron |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-15 MPH |
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH Brights |
-23 MPH |
-21 MPH |
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
37 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-21 MPH |
Warning Issued-Brights |
2.3 sec |
2 sec |
37 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-22 MPH |
Warning Issued-Low beams |
2.1 sec |
1.8 sec |
The bZ4X’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 Q4 e-tron doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the bZ4X and the Q4 e-tron have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available 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 Toyota bZ4X is safer than the Audi Q4 e-tron:
|
bZ4X |
Q4 e-tron |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
227 |
264 |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
37% |
37.1% |
Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
132 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 Toyota bZ4X is safer than the Audi Q4 e-tron:
|
bZ4X |
Q4 e-tron |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.