The passenger compartment of the Kuga remained stable in the frontal offset test. Dummy readings indicated good protection of the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger. Ford showed that a similar level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sitting in different positions. Protection of the driver's chest and lower leg was rated as marginal. In the full-width rigid barrier test, protection the driver's chest was again marginal but that of all other critical body areas was good or adequate for both the driver and rear passenger. In both the side barrier and the more severe side pole tests, protection of all critical body areas was good and the car scored full points in both of these tests. Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision. A geometric assessment of the rear seats also indicated good whiplash protection. The standard-fit autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system performed well in tests of its functionality at the low speeds at which many whiplash injuries occur.

In both the frontal and side barrier tests, protection of all critical body areas was good for both dummies with the exception of the head of the 10 year dummy, protection of which was rated as adequate. The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position. Clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag and the system was rewarded. One universal child restraint could not be properly installed in the rear centre seat owing to the centre tunnel preventing correct placement of the support leg of the base. Otherwise, all restraints types for the which the Kuga is designed could be properly installed and accommodated.

The bonnet provided predominantly good or adequate protection to the head of a struck pedestrian, with some poor results recorded on the stiff windscreen pillars. The bumper provided generally good protection to pedestrians' legs and protection of the pelvis was also mostly good. The Kuga's AEB system can detect vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists, as well as other vehicles. In tests, the system's response to both was good, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most cases.

The Kuga has a seatbelt reminder system for the front and rear seats. The AEB system performed adequately in tests of its response to other vehicles at highway speeds. A lane support system helps prevent inadvertent drifting out of lane and also intervenes in some more critical situations. A driver-set speed limiter helps the driver to avoid over-speeding.