If you were
really concerned about their safety, you would have done research and found a vehicle that is actually required to be crash tested to determine occupant safety and not some POS on a truck chassis that "must be safe because it's big." But what do I know, it's big so it must be safe right?
Think about this...how much safer would your family be if they were in a vehicle that acutally had the ability to avoid an accident? You're not "safe" by virtue of the fact that you can't stop or steer out of trouble so since you know you'll be going head on into disaster at least you'll be the biggest POS in the pile.
I won't get into the gas guzzling argument...but I do find it funny that large cars that get 16 MPG are taxed as gas guzzlers at purchase while large buses (like the Excursion) that get 10 mpg are not. You want to drink gas at that rate, you pay for it. Simple as that.