The Mazda CX-5 is equipped with an enhanced and expanded range of the company‘s advanced and innovative i-Activsense driver-supporting safety technologies that deliver class-leading active safety performance.

As you’d expect the - CX-5’s high strength Skyactiv-Body also ensures passive safety is exemplary, too. The body features a multi-load, upper, middle and lower path structure which absorbs and disperses impact force efficiently within the engine compartment, more effectively suppressing cabin deformation during a collision. The body features optimally shaped reinforcement at the base of the A pillars and inside the hinge pillars, which increase energy absorption and dispersion efficiency. In addition, the A pillars are now fabricated in 1,180 MPa ultra-high-tensile steel, and high strength material around the cabin combines weight reduction with a higher level of collision safety.

Enhancing side collision performance, a solid H-shaped ring structure joining the roof and B pillars to the underbody combines with two side impact bars in each front door and one in each rear door to prevent cabin deformation. The use of 980 MPa ultra-high-tensile steel in the B pillars and side sills further enhances cabin strength without weight increase penalties.

To the rear, side sub-frames efficiently absorb and disperse impact energy, while a frame layout and structure protects the fuel tank and helps prevent fuel leakage in the event of a collision.

The CX-5 is fitted with six airbags – dual front, side airbags and full-length curtain, while three-point seatbelts with pre-tensioners and load limiters and ISOFIX child seat anchor points equip the left and right rear seats, completing the standard safety package.

With meticulous attention paid to lowering the risk of pedestrian impact injury, the CX-5‘s safety reach extends to other road users, as well. Holes and cut-outs within the bonnet reinforcements create an easily crushable structure that helps mitigate injury to a pedestrian‘s head in the event of an accident. In addition, the cowl panel employs an S-shaped structural cross-section that acts like a spring to help better absorb energy. Energy-absorbing foam placed within the front bumper helps limit the degree of injury to a pedestrian‘s legs, while a lower stiffener added to the bumper helps prevent the legs from sliding under the front of the car.

To absorb impact energy and mitigate injury in the event of a collision with a child‘s head -a load from above, or an adult‘s thigh -a load from the front, a new structure is adopted for the bracket securing the upper section of the front grille, which absorbs the energy of a load applied from either direction.

However, it’s Mazda i-Activsense intelligent active safety technology that supports day-to-day use, delivering a level of driver support that’s perfectly aligned to Mazda’s ‘Love of Driving’ approach. Standard across the range Advanced Smart City Brake Support (Advanced SCBS) uses a forward sensing camera, which has an expanded detection distance and widened view angle. The forward detection speed range has grown from 2-19mph to 2-50mph. Perfectly adapted to operation within the urban environment, Advanced SCBS can also detect pedestrians within a speed range of 6-50mph.

The system automatically stops or reduces the speed of the car when there is a risk of collision with the vehicle or pedestrian in front. If there is the danger of a collision, the system alerts the driver using a warning sound and graphic indication, and if it detects a collision is imminent and unavoidable, the system automatically applies the brakes. Further standard active safety equipment includes a four-wheel anti-lock braking system (4W-ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), a Traction Control System (TCS), an Emergency Stop Signalling System (ESS) and Hill Launch Assist (HLA).

Other key i-Activsense driver-supporting technologies included as standard across the range include Mazda’s Lane-keep Assist System and Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic Alert. Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses a millimetre-wave radar sensor to monitor the blind spot areas to the sides and rear of the - CX-5, keeping the driver aware of vehicles approaching when, for example, changing lanes. The system becomes operational at speeds over 19mph and if the driver switches on a turn signal whilst the system detects vehicles approaching from behind, it warns them with a flashing indicator in the respective door mirror and sounds an alert. The system also uses the same sensor for its Rear Cross Traffic Alert function, which monitors the vehicle‘s surroundings when reversing, alerting the driver when it detects vehicles approaching from the sides.

An £800 option on selected Sport models and standard on GT Sport, Mazda’s Safety Pack adds a host of active safety features including Adaptive LED Headlights, which in the pursuit of ideal visibility during night time driving, offers several key functions. The number of blocks into which the Adaptive LED Headlights LED array is split has been increased from four to 12, and a monocular unit has been adopted for both high and low beam lamps. With each block able to be independently lit or extinguished, the 12-split LED array offers finer control of illumination and an increased upper light intensity during high beam cruising to give more timely awareness of pedestrians.

By using the forward sensing camera, the enhanced system can deliver three unique functions: Glare-free High Beam, Wide-range Low Beam and Highway mode. When travelling at speeds of 25mph and above, Glare-free High Beam detects the position of the vehicle ahead or an oncoming car and turns off sections of the LEDs so that the high beams can be used continuously without dazzling other vehicles.

At speeds of up to 25mph, Wide-range Low Beam ensures that the LED lights illuminate both sides of the road over a wider spread -including the area visible between the A pillars and door mirrors- to help light up junctions and turns. Operating at speeds over 60mph, Highway mode increases visibility at a distance by raising the headlamp optical axis when driving at motorway speeds.

Also part of the Safety Pack and operational above 40mph, Driver Attention Alert monitors the steering wheel angle and vehicle speed, combining this with information from the forward sensing camera to monitor the driver‘s condition. Should it recognise any noteworthy changes in driver behaviour, the system will recommend a break every two hours through the use of both visual and audible alerts.

The introduction of a 360 View Monitor to the Safety Pack in 2018 improved technology even further, while Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) with Stop and Go function* is now standard across the whole range. For added convenience when driving in stop-and-go traffic, the MRCC holds the vehicle in place even after the driver lifts their foot off the brake pedal, releasing the brakes only once the driver presses the accelerator pedal.

MRCC measures the relative speed and distance of the vehicle ahead and automatically controls the engine and brakes to maintain the appropriate vehicle speed and optimum following distance. The updated system for the - CX-5 combines the radar of the previous system with the new forward sensing camera. This expands its minimum operating speed from 19mph down to 0mph, and enables the driver to activate the system at any speed ranging from stationary up to 124mph.

When driving with MRCC activated, the CX-5 is designed to automatically slow down, and stop, if the car ahead does the same, and to remain stopped until the car ahead pulls away once more. The driver controls when the CX-5 starts moving again, the car then automatically accelerating to follow the preceding vehicle at the appropriate speed. The system includes an alert function to make the driver aware that the car ahead has pulled away.

The flagship Mazda CX-5 GT Sport comes with a Safety Pack as standard, which includes Adaptive LED Headlights, Driver Attention Alert, Rear Smart City Brake Support and 360^o View Monitor.

With the robust passive safety you’d expect and an even more advanced offering of intelligent active safety technology, the Mazda CX-5 is safer than ever before and crucially delivers a host of systems to assist the driver to enjoy the drive, by reducing fatigue and supporting when required but never detracting from the love of driving.