SUV stands for sports utility vehicles and offers a little bit of everything from other car variations, making it one of America’s favorite vehicle types. SUVs tend to offer decent gas mileage with ample room and 4×4 or all-wheel drive as standard options. It’s like smashing a truck, sedan, and minivan all into one. But, which SUVs are the best in class in terms of safety?
1. 2020 Ford Escape
The 2020 Ford Escape comes in three flavors, the edge, explorer, and ecosport. All three of these models from Ford offer a 5-star crash rating. The strongest point noted was the crash prevention system which incorporates new computer avoidance technology to assist drivers in avoiding potential crashes. The weakest point was in the headlight results which only offered fair performance. Even then, the Escape is one of the safest SUVs on the road today.
2. 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe
Next up is the Hyundai Santa Fe, a strong competitor in the affordable yet versatile SUV market. In the same metrics as the Escape, the US News & World report indicates the Santa Fe is slightly safer overall compared to the Ford. The Santa Fe’s headlight rating was just above average and therefore offered a slightly more safe profile. Aside from the headlights, every other safety aspect was on par with the Escape.
3. 2019 Kia Telluride
Another competitor and emerging brand in terms of reliability are the Kia Telluride. This SUV offers all the safety of the Escape while falling slightly short on the headlight profile. This is due to a combination of factors like distance illuminated, and the angle of illumination. For instance, a narrow beam at night means obstacles like deer on the side of the road are much more difficult to see and therefore avoid. Even then, the Telluride offers a very safe driving experience with a particular strong suit in front crash prevention.
4. 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Next up is a well known and long-standing brand in the SUV and off-roading world. The Jeep Grand Cherokee. Compared to the three other options, the Grand Cherokee offers the least safe ride of any of the SUV’s. With unrated front crash prevention and only marginal performance in the front driver and passenger crash test results, the Grand Cherokee is not the safest option on the road. With that in mind, the Grand Cherokee only performed “good” with side, rear, and roof related safety. The Grand Cherokee also comes in as one of the most expensive options on this list.
5. Mercedes-Benz G-Class Luxury SUV
The Grand Cherokee is not as expensive as the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, coming in at a base price of $130,000 USD, the G-Class has yet to be rated for safety by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Higher-end vehicles in the luxury range tend to not receive crash testing. With that in mind, the safety of the G Class isn’t entirely a toss-up. The new 2019 edition comes with state of the art crash avoidance technology like lane departure warnings, blind-spot indicators, automatic emergency braking, and rear cross-traffic alert just to name a few of the features. So, your chances of ending up in a G Class seem quite slim compared to other models.