The Dodge Durango has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Yukon doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Durango 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 Yukon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Durango has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Yukon’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Durango has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Yukon.
For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Durango uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Yukon uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.
Both the Durango and the Yukon 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, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems and front parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Dodge Durango is safer than the GMC Yukon:
|
Durango |
Yukon |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
47% |
Neck Stress |
156 lbs. |
272 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
303/32 lbs. |
333/811 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 Dodge Durango is safer than the GMC Yukon:
|
Durango |
Yukon |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
111 lbs. |
111 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
50 |
88 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
194 |
239 |
Hip Force |
714 lbs. |
764 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.