Jeeps are a popular brand among many car lovers however, how safe are they? Find out how dangerous it is to drive a jeep, for you, your family or your teenage child.
Before you purchase a vehicle, it is important that you review how safe it is for use. Sure most people go straight to engine power, ratings, durability, cost and other criteria first but safety is among the first things every driver should consider.
How safe a particular make or brand is, how well are they rated in crash tests and so forth are concerns every buyer or potential car owner must have. We are going to discuss how safe it is to drive one of the more popular brands, The Jeep. Read on for more.
Safety ratings
These are standards set to help guide the consumer to find safe cars. The NHTSA, an other organizations have developed these ratings on a 5 start scale that help you the buyer to navigate through the car selection process while choosing safer options.
According to this system, the more the stars out of 5, the safer it is. These safety ratings are provided by different organizations including the NHTSA and IIHS. They are based on the evaluation of the crashworthiness and rollover safety of vehicles. Apart from crashworthiness, they also evaluate the crash avoidance or mitigation technologies that will prevent a crash or lessen severity of the same.
Jeep safety ratings
The Jeep brand has several models from different years; we cannot therefore pick one singular safety rating. Because the make on different models varies, you can use different safety rating sites to confirm the safety of a particular Jeep vehicle using the model and the year. The data will vary depending on the result of the cash test ratings.
Advanced Jeep safety features
Several features are incorporated into jeep designs for a safe driving experience. These advancements in safety technology potentially enhance safety and could save lives. There are several popular safety and security systems including the following.
- Rear back up camera and parking assist systems
The Parkview camera is especially helpful when the driver needs assistance parking or ensuring the space behind the vehicle is clear.
- Lane assistant
The Lane sense is a lane departure feature that will warn you when you drift from your lane and automatically correct your steering so you can get back to your lane.
- Forward collision and braking
Imagine coming up o a vehicle and you cannot react fast enough to engage the brakes. This feature has your brakes auto engaged in case you don’t react in time. It will also warn you if you approach a vehicle straight ahead too quickly.
- Emergency contact
An assist button on the rear view mirror connects the driver to a public safety answering point in case you need to request assistance or inform somebody of an emergency.
- Electronic stability control and roll mitigation
Similar to the lane assistant, the stability control system will help keep you driving straight. This system usually kicks in and automatically applies the brakes or reduces the systems torque if it detects issues with steering control.
Roll mitigation on the other hand detects the likelihood of a wheel lift. The system reduces engine power automatically and applies brakes to make sure the jeep is grounded. Both the stability control and roll over mitigation engage when rollover is likely.
- Trailer sway control
Jeeps safety features can be grouped into two categories, Features to prevent rolling over and heads up technologies that won’t exactly kick in when they sense an error. Instead these act as warning signals to keep the driver aware.
Jeep for families
There is no argument that Jeeps are solidly built SUV type cars that offer a wide variety appealing. Drivers with families might be disappointed to know that jeeps are not built exactly to be family cars.
However, this may change depending on say the age of the passengers you pan to carry. While jeep seats might not accommodate a child’s car seats, they have no problem securing young adults or teenagers during trips.
This should not disqualify all Jeeps from your list of potential purchases. In fact, there are some models tailored to cater to the family bracket. Adventurous families especially are in luck on account of all the space and dependability on jeep models for all those family trips and excursions.
Jeep for teenage drivers
If you are considering a car purchase for your teenager, then safety is among one of the main factors that must influence your decision. The thought of leaving your child with a vehicle on the highway unsupervised might be quite frankly frightening. According to the road statistics, teenagers and cars are not exactly the best combination.
Some of the risky driving behaviors they exhibit play a major role in influencing the high teenage driver accident statistics. In addition to this, teenagers are not exactly experienced drivers and would need as much help as they can get.
Because the type of car they are driving is among the factors that could influence this data, you must find the best suiting vehicle for them. Sadly, jeep models do not exactly have the best aesthetics for teenage drivers to drive themselves and other passengers around safely, at least statistically they don’t.
Jeeps in accidents
While jeeps are great on different terrains, they aren’t the best on normal roads. One of the biggest concerns with Jeeps is their performance in accidents and roll over rates. Sure the build is sturdy and solid, but if you unfortunately get into a serious accident, the passengers are likely to suffer head injuries on account of the window frame structure.
Final word
To answer the question, yes, Jeeps are safe cars depending on who you ask. Because each user drives the Jeep under different circumstances, the safety of these cars will be relative depending on your circumstances. Regardless, it is important that you check safety ratings for the Jeep models you are interested in for a more elaborate explanation on how safe they are for your use.
