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 Mustang Mach-E are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The XC60 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
With its standard Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, the Ford Mustang Mach-E is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Volvo XC60, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
| 
 | Mustang Mach-E | XC60 | 
| Overall Evaluation | GOOD | ACCEPTABLE | 
| 
 | Crossing Child - DAY | |
| 12 MPH | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 25 MPH | AVOIDED | -22 MPH | 
| 
 | Crossing Adult - NIGHT | |
| 12 MPH Brights | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 12 MPH Low beams | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 25 MPH Brights | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 25 MPH Low beams | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 
 | Parallel Adult - NIGHT | |
| 25 MPH Brights | AVOIDED | -24 MPH | 
| 25 MPH Low beams | AVOIDED | AVOIDED | 
| 37 MPH Brights | -33 MPH | -23 MPH | 
| 37 MPH Low beams | -16 MPH | -11 MPH | 
| Warning Issued-Low beams | 1 sec | .6 sec | 
Both the Mustang Mach-E and the XC60 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, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Ford Mustang Mach-E is safer than the XC60:
| 
 | Mustang Mach-E | XC60 | 
| Overall Evaluation | GOOD | ACCEPTABLE | 
| 
 | Driver Injury Measures | |
| Head/Neck | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Torso | ACCEPTABLE | ACCEPTABLE | 
| Pelvis | GOOD | MARGINAL | 
| Pelvis Force | 825 lbs. | 1205 lbs. | 
| Head Protection | GOOD | GOOD | 
| 
 | Passenger Injury Measures | |
| Head/Neck | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Head Injury Criterion | 42 | 195 | 
| Neck Compression | 22 lbs. | 89 lbs. | 
| Torso | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Shoulder Deflection | .87 in | 1.22 in | 
| Shoulder Force | 268 lbs. | 357 lbs. | 
| Torso Max Deflection | .94 in | 1.26 in | 
| Torso Deflection Rate | 4 MPH | 8 MPH | 
| Pelvis | GOOD | MARGINAL | 
| Pelvis Force | 535 lbs. | 1316 lbs. | 
| Head Protection | GOOD | GOOD | 
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Mustang Mach-E, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 5.2% to 6.9% less likely to roll over than the XC60, which received a four-star rating.

