The 2020 Land Rover Defender arrived late last year as one of the most highly anticipated releases of 2019. Upon its arrival, the Defender quickly began impressing with glowing reviews from both MotorTrend and Car and Driver. Raw off-road capability aside, today we’re looking at just how safe the new Defender is with a video published by Euro NCAP.

The 2020 Land Rover Defender is surprisingly safe

While the 2020 Land Rover Defender excels in off-roading situations, most customers will be experiencing it on the road. To this effect, the embedded video above should put your safety concerns at ease. According to Euro NCAP, the 2020 Defender managed to receive a five-star crash safety rating. The off-roader managed this by staying largely intact even when it crashed at high speeds.

From the video, we can see that even when the Defender crashes directly onto a solid wall, it barely loses its overall form. Despite smacking the wall at just over 30 mph, the front takes most of the damage while the passengers are protected by the many airbags onboard. It’s a similar story with the side impact test. Although the Defender is struck violently, the SUV retains its overall shape and the occupants’ safety. It is worth mentioning that these tests were performed on the larger four-door model. According to Motor1 and the Euro NCAP, these ratings apply to all Defender models.

If you’re inside of the 2020 Land Rover Defender, there’s good news here as well. That’s because Motor1 reports that the off-roader excelled in the occupant production categories. The only test where it didn’t absolutely win was the side pole impact. However, the score is more than satisfactory to maintain its five-star rating.

How about onboard safety equipment?

While the 2020 Land Rover Defender will keep you safe if you happen to crash, it’s best not to crash at all. In this regard, the off-roader has plenty of keeping you on the road. For starters, the Defender comes standard with blind-spot monitoring, a 3D surround-view camera, a 360-degree camera, lane-keep assist, emergency braking, and driver condition monitor, says CarBuzz. If those aren’t enough, you’ll be able to option adaptive cruise control on higher trim levels.

If you’re off-roading, the Defender is still trying to keep you safe. This is because, according to Carbuzz, the off-roader offers low traction launch, hill descent control, hill launch assist, and a terrain response system. The result is that whether you’re on the road or not, the Land Rover is looking out for you. Thankfully, if you still manage to crash, you now know you’re in good hands.

Is the 2020 model worth buying?

Safety ratings and equipment aside, The 2020 Land Rover Defender is an exceptional SUV. Under the hood, you have a choice between a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a turbo-inline-six with hybrid assist. For suspension, you can have traditional springs or a fancy air suspension setup which detects the road and adjusts itself.

For off-roading, the onboard cameras can display objects on the large central screen so you can avoid them. In front of the driver, you even get a fully digital instrument cluster, modernizing the interior. All in all, the Defender is great on paper. The only thing missing now is some long term tests to review its durability and reliability.