For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento 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 Chevrolet Blazer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
Both the Sorento and Blazer have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Blazer’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Kia Sorento achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Chevrolet Blazer has not been tested.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sorento Prestige has standard Parking Collision Avoidance-Rear that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Blazer doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Sorento’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Blazer doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
Both the Sorento and Blazer have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Sorento has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Blazer’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.
The Sorento’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 Blazer doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Sorento and the Blazer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, 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 Kia Sorento is safer than the Chevrolet Blazer:
|
|
Sorento |
Blazer |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.8 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
43% |
43% |
| Neck Compression |
52 lbs. |
140 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 Kia Sorento is safer than the Chevrolet Blazer:
|
|
Sorento |
Blazer |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
25 |
93 |
| Chest Movement |
.7 inches |
.8 inches |
| Abdominal Force |
117 lbs. |
157 lbs. |
| Hip Force |
196 lbs. |
369 lbs. |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
73 |
251 |
| Spine Acceleration |
29 G’s |
45 G’s |
| Hip Force |
196 lbs. |
673 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
228 |
265 |
| Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
39 G’s |
| Hip Force |
552 lbs. |
695 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Kia Sorento has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Blazer has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.