Safety wise the Prius is the way to go. It has a much higher front and side crash test rating than the Escape.

Higher mileage. Safer vehicle.

Also has backup camera if you have small kids around.

Prada, Your answer is pretty brass and it begs for a rebuttal.

While the Prius may have tested better in the frontal crash tests that lined up with the impact bumpers, it hardly has a chance against an SUV or pickup truck that does not line up. The majority of vehicles on the road today simply have higher bumpers than that of the low slung Prius, which would allow for the higher possibility of injury in a real world situation.

There is very little structual integrity on any vehicle when struck by, or striking something that rides right over the top of the impact bumper.

08FEH

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests are the most rigorous and accurate auto safety tests.

The Escape does poorly in the tests. The Prius does extremely well.

Sorry you don't like the results. You need to take it up with Ford to build a safer vehicle.

hmm,
The NHTSA stands for the national highway traffic administration.
This would be the government run tests, not the INSURANCE institute.

For FRONTAL Collision:
The NHTSA shows the escape driver a 4 star and the prius a 4 star for driver. very nice
The NHTSA shows the escape front passenger a 5 star and the prius front passenger a 4 star

Sorry about your front seat passenger on a frontal impact.

For SIDE impact:
The NHTSA shows the escape front seat a 5 star and the prius a 5 star very nice
The NHTSA shows the rear seat for the escape a 5 star and the prius a 4 star

Sorry about your rear seat passenger in a side impact.

In reality you cannot compare two vehicles of different styles (SUV vs PC), but your ignorance on this subject could possible mislead someone into actually thinking they are safer in a Prius than in an Escape, which really isn't for either of us to determine.

Look up te results for yourself (perhaps before you post incorrect info next time)
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
or
http://www.safercar.gov/


08FEH

You are certainly free to rationalize the Escape's poor crash test results any way you want.

For technical complaints, you would need to contact the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Here's what the IIHS has to say regarding this "heated" subject.

"The Institute began frontal offset crash testing in 1995. In the Institute's 40 mph offset test, 40 percent of the total width of each vehicle strikes a barrier on the driver side. The barrier's deformable face is made of aluminum honeycomb, which makes the forces in the test similar to those involved in a frontal offset crash between two vehicles of the same weight, each going just less than 40 mph. Test results can be compared only among vehicles of similar weight. Like full-width crash test results, the results of offset tests cannot be used to compare vehicle performance across weight classes. This is because the kinetic energy involved in the frontal test depends on the speed and weight of the test vehicle, and the crash is more severe for heavier vehicles. Given equivalent frontal ratings for heavier and lighter vehicles, the heavier vehicle typically will offer better protection in real-world crashes."

I read that to mean that a heavy vehicle with a G will offer better protection than a light vehicle with a G, and it's possible that a heavy vehicle with an A could fair better than the light G.

The Escape scores a A which is just below G, 2 steps away from P from poor.

1. Side tests are not weight related.

2. At 3,000 lbs and above the weight "advantage" in frontal offset crashes diminishes.

3. Escape is 3,5000 vs. Prius 3,000.

4. Certainly an argument for getting 3,400 # Camry over Prius which in turn is safer than the Escape per the IIHS tests.

Regarding the US government tests, no one but the car mfgs. pays them much mind.

"In the United States - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides safety information for a large number of vehicles through their New Car Assessment Program (US-NCAP), using an outdated crash-testing procedure and featuring only vehicles built after 1994."

But both the Prius and Escape are rated G for side tests.

Sorry Prada, wrong again on the Escape Hybrid at 3500 lbs, but hey it's just another baseless comment from you.

It's ok for you to think your prius is safer, you are the one that is in it!

I wonder why it is so much more to insure a prius than an escape, could it be the higher possibility of occupant injury in the prius?

08FEH

More data from IIHS website comparing cars with SUVs.

These figures are in "Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, by crash type, 2005". They are sub-divided into multiple vehicle (MV) accident deaths, single vehicle(SV), and single vehicle rollover (SVR)deaths.

Mini MV SV SVR ALL
Car 94 50 31 144
Truck no such vehicle

Small
CAR 61 45 24 106
SUV 29 31 20 60

Midsize
CAR 39 32 14 70
SUV 20 36 26 57

Large
CAR 43 25 11 67
SUV 17 30 23 48

Very Large
CAR 27 16 7 44
SUV 8 16 8 24

All
CAR 46 33 16 79
SUV 21 34 24 55

Ultimately by category here is the increased chance of death by CAR vs SUV.

Small Car = 77%
Midsize Car = 23%
Large Car = 40%
Very Large Car = 83%
All Cars = 44%

In every size a CAR is more likely to result in death. Only because of rollover does the single vehicle accidents result in a 3% higher risk of death for SUV.

The IIHS data in no way correlates between crash test results and vehicle safety.