For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia Carnival 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 Buick Enclave doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Kia Carnival 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 Buick Enclave doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.
The Kia Carnival 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 Enclave doesn’t offer knee airbags.
Both the Carnival and Enclave have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Carnival has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Enclave’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The Carnival’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 Enclave doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Carnival and the Enclave have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, front seat center airbag, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, 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 and available 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 Kia Carnival is safer than the Buick Enclave:
|
Carnival |
Enclave |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Compression |
12 lbs. |
77 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
250 |
333 |
Chest Compression |
.8 inches |
.9 inches |
Neck Compression |
27 lbs. |
51 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Kia Carnival is safer than the Enclave:
|
Carnival |
Enclave |
Overall Evaluation |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
53 |
141 |
Neck Tension |
178 lbs. |
446 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
-67 lbs. |
45 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.51 in |
1.3 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.14 in |
1.5 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
5 MPH |
6 MPH |
Pelvis |
ACCEPTABLE |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
1071 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head Injury Criterion |
186 |
189 |
Neck Compression |
-67 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |