The Escalade ESV's second-row captain's chairs had the only Latch anchors in this three-row SUV. The Latch anchors are easy to access. The tether anchors are at the bottom of the captain's chair seatbacks, so their accessibility isn't great but this isn't uncommon. A variety of child-safety seats fit without a problem in the Escalade ESV, with the exception of the third row's center seating position.

The 2011 Escalade ESV received three out of five stars in rollover crash-test ratings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but it hasn't undergone the agency's other crash tests. It also hasn't been crash-tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Standard safety features include rear-wheel drive, all-disc antilock brakes, an electronic stability system with rollover mitigation technology, traction control, a blind spot warning system, a backup camera with rear parking sensors, and six airbags, including side curtains for all three rows. Four-wheel drive is optional.