For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Jeep Grand Cherokee 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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee 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 Equinox doesn’t offer knee airbags.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Grand Cherokee Overland 4WD/Summit 4WD’s standard Hill-descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Equinox doesn’t offer Hill-descent Control.
A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Grand Cherokee 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 Equinox doesn’t offer a night vision system.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee (except Laredo)’s optional360-degree camera can be optionally equipped with washers for its front and rear cameras, ensuring crystal-clear visibility in any weather condition. Conversely, the Chevrolet Equinox only offers a rear camera washer, which may not provide the same level of all-weather performance.
The Grand Cherokee Summit’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Grand Cherokee and the Equinox have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee weighs 609 to 2093 pounds more than the Chevrolet Equinox. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.