The Escalade-V’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Escalade-V are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Escalade-V has standard Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
An active infrared night vision system standard on the Escalade-V helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera and near-infrared lights to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The Durango SRT doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Escalade-V’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 Durango SRT.
The Escalade-V has a standard HD Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango SRT only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
Both the Escalade-V and the Durango SRT have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.
The Cadillac Escalade-V weighs 839 to 1029 pounds more than the Dodge Durango SRT. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.