For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Cruz 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 Colorado doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Cruz SEL/SEL Premium/Limited has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Colorado doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.
The Santa Cruz’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 Colorado doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Santa Cruz uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Colorado uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.
Both the Santa Cruz and the Colorado have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, 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, available all wheel drive and 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 Santa Cruz is safer than the Chevrolet Colorado:
|
Santa Cruz |
Colorado |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
22.8% |
26.1% |
Neck Stress |
196 lbs. |
330 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
36/164 lbs. |
150/71 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
230 |
293 |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Stress |
125 lbs. |
178 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
85 lbs. |
92 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
61/48 lbs. |
39/149 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 flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Hyundai Santa Cruz is safer than the Chevrolet Colorado:
|
Santa Cruz |
Colorado |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
HIC |
37 |
129 |
Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
1.6 inches |
Abdominal Force |
86 lbs. |
186 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
47 |
64 |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.