For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Chrysler Pacifica are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Lexus TX doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.
The Chrysler Pacifica 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 TX doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The Pacifica offers optional Emergency Vehicle Alert System, a system that seemlesly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The TX doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from other vehicles.
Both the Pacifica and the TX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Chrysler Pacifica is safer than the TX:
|
Pacifica |
TX |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Restraints |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head injury index |
71 |
112 |
Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
Steering Column Movement Rearward |
2 cm |
5 cm |
Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Max Chest Compression |
20 cm |
21 cm |
Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Femur Force R/L |
1.2/.8 kN |
3.5/1.3 kN |
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
1%/0% |
Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |