For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Jeep Grand Cherokee L 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 Mercedes GLE doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee L has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The GLE doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The Grand Cherokee L has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The GLE doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Grand Cherokee L Overland/Summit helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The GLE doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Grand Cherokee L’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the GLE.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee L offers an optional 360-degree camera and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the Mercedes GLE doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
Both the Grand Cherokee L and the GLE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, around view monitors and driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Jeep Grand Cherokee L is safer than the Mercedes GLE:
|
Grand Cherokee L |
GLE |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
24% |
Neck Stress |
152 lbs. |
208 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
137 |
209 |
Neck Injury Risk |
28% |
31% |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
400/347 lbs. |
401/438 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 Jeep Grand Cherokee L is safer than the Mercedes GLE:
|
Grand Cherokee L |
GLE |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
147 lbs. |
151 lbs. |
Hip Force |
276 lbs. |
287 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
92 |
103 |
Spine Acceleration |
34 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
375 lbs. |
677 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
35 G’s |
Hip Force |
432 lbs. |
615 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.