For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid 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.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Tucson Hybrid Limited has standard Reverse Collision-Avoidance Assist 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 Tucson Hybrid and Compass have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Tucson Hybrid has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (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 Tucson Hybrid and the Compass have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, driver alert monitors 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 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid is safer than the Jeep Compass:
|
Tucson Hybrid |
Compass |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
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 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid is much safer than the Compass:
|
Tucson Hybrid |
Compass |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
121 |
189 |
Neck Tension |
223 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-45 lbs. |
22 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Force |
223 lbs. |
245 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
POOR |
Pelvis Force |
759 lbs. |
1517 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
116 |
202 |
Neck Compression |
-134 lbs. |
223 lbs. |
Torso |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
1.1 in |
2.13 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
491 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.38 in |
1.77 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
14 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
669 lbs. |
937 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Tucson Hybrid, with its four-star roll-over rating, is 3% to 4.5% less likely to roll over than the Compass, which received a three-star rating.
The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Compass is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.