For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Grand Highlander 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 Volkswagen Atlas doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
The Toyota Grand Highlander 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 Atlas doesn’t offer knee airbags.
With its standard Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, the Toyota Grand Highlander is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Volkswagen Atlas, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
|
Grand Highlander |
Atlas |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Crossing Child - DAY |
|
12 MPH |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH |
AVOIDED |
-10 MPH |
|
Crossing Adult - NIGHT |
|
12 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
12 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-10 MPH |
25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
AVOIDED |
25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
|
Parallel Adult - NIGHT |
|
25 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-21 MPH |
25 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-23 MPH |
37 MPH Brights |
AVOIDED |
-28 MPH |
37 MPH Low beams |
AVOIDED |
-2 MPH |
Warning Issued-Low beams |
1.8 sec |
.6 sec |
The Grand Highlander’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 Atlas doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Grand Highlander and the Atlas have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, 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, 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 Toyota Grand Highlander is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas:
|
Grand Highlander |
Atlas |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
218 |
307 |
Neck Stress |
355 lbs. |
412 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
12 lbs. |
59 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
33% |
39% |
Neck Compression |
60 lbs. |
117 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 and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Grand Highlander is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas:
|
Grand Highlander |
Atlas |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
42 |
57 |
Chest Movement |
.3 inches |
.5 inches |
Hip Force |
199 lbs. |
345 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
63 |
144 |
Hip Force |
55 lbs. |
527 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
48 G’s |
51 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.