How Safe Are New Subaru SUVs? They Now Offer 2 Of The 5 Best Back Seat Safety Features

Subaru leads the auto industry in-car safety features but falls short if you are in the back seat. See how the 2021 Subaru Forester, Ascent, and Outback are playing catch-up with other brands.

How safe are Subaru vehicles? If you are sitting in the front seat of a 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, or Ascent, you will be safer than many cars sold in North America. The Subaru brand has stellar safety scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), with ten 2020 year models getting top crash test scores. How safe are back seat passengers?

A new study from Consumer Reports reveals most passengers in the back don't buckle their seat belts, but there's more to rear seat safety than that. Most vehicles don't offer the same safety level in the back seats as they do in the front. The report says crash-test evaluations performed by the IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have prioritized front-seat crash protection because that's where people are more likely to sit. But what about passengers in the back seat?

Automakers are making advances, but most like Subaru are playing "catch-up." CR says some automakers are doing well, offering a rear seat occupant alert, rear seat belt reminder, rear side torso/pelvis airbag, rear seat belt pre-tensioner, and rear seat belt load limiter. Only one automaker, Nissan, offers two cars with all five safety features. BMW, Ford, Lexus, Lincoln, Porsche, and Toyota offer cars with four. And five automakers offer vehicles with three of the safety features.

What rear-seat safety feature does Subaru offer?

Subaru offers two of the five features that help improve rear-seat safety. Subaru offers rear seat-belt reminders, which tell drivers when a passenger doesn't buckle up, and rear-seat alerts reminding drivers to check for children or pets in the back seat so that they aren't left in a closed vehicle.

Subaru offers the rear-seat reminder on 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, and Ascent models. The 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, Ascent, and Legacy offer a rear seat-belt reminder.

The 2021 Subaru Forester, Outback, and Ascent models excel in front passenger safety. The Japanese automaker's three family models have some catching-up to give rear passengers the same safety level.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photo credit: Subaru, Atlantic Subaru