I've seen two fatal road accidents, and one injury accident in the last ten years. All three involved children, all three involved SUVs.
In the case of the two fatalities, the SUV driver was confident that the power and weight of their vehicle would let them do things that other road users weren't risking; it turns out that even a 3-ton SUV is going to lose against a 40-odd ton truck.
In the case of the injury, it was even simpler; the kid did something stupid (ran in front of their parent's vehicle, not behind it, to cross to the shop opposite their school), got hit at relatively low speeds (about 10 mph), and instead of going over the car (seen that, too, with a Lexus IS - quite survivable by the size of kids in question, who were merely shocked), went under the wheels (Range Rover). The resulting injuries needed hospital treatment.
As to the two fatalities? Fatality one was caused when two big rigs on a 3-lane highway hadn't seen each other and decided to signal to change lanes, the one on the left moving right, the one on the right moving left. The rest of us dropped back - you do not want to be next to a big rig when it's in a crash. The SUV driver went round the traffic that had dropped back, and tried to overtake - they nearly made it, but got hit by one of the big rigs. The SUV was crushed against the central reservation, then driven over by the rig that hit it. Result? Two adults declared dead on the scene, their child declared dead before I'd finished giving my statement of what I'd seen to the police.
The second was in icy conditions, climbing a hill with (again) big rigs coming down towards us. The SUV decided to try and overtake, lost control, span onto the other side of the road, and got hit in the side by a big rig. The resulting damage meant that people on the side that was hit were killed (possibly at time of impact, possibly when the SUV rolled and then slid on the damaged side), but people on the other side of the vehicle were OK.
You will notice a pattern to the serious incidents; someone does something stupid, and an accident ensues. In the two fatal cases, a better driver wouldn't have been involved in the first place; for the first of the two, they'd have observed that the trucks were signalling stupid plans, and that everyone else was dropping back, for the second, they'd have noted the icy conditions, and decided to take a bit longer rather than overtake when there's traffic coming downhill. I find myself wondering whether the sense that the SUV would protect them encouraged these drivers to take risks that they just wouldn't risk in a smaller car; if it did, it cost them dearly.
In the injury case, there wasn't that much the driver could do - similar accidents occurred at that spot about once every three months, as there was a school on one side of the road, and a shop on the other. Kids dropped off at school sometimes decided to go to the shop instead; if the kid was especially distracted, or especially foolish, they'd dart just in front of the car that just dropped them off. Result is one accident - small vehicles like the Lexus IS throw the kid over the bonnet, and there are no injuries, just a seriously terrified kid and parent. SUVs force the kids under the car, and if the wheels get them, it's serious injury time.
My conclusion? If you're buying an SUV to "keep the kids safe", you're better off spending the difference in price between a car and an SUV on advanced driving lessons; learn to read the road, and make better judgement calls. You're better off with half the chance of being in an accident, and a 25% higher chance of someone dying in the accident than you are with a slightly lower chance of someone dying in the accident, but twice the odds of being in an accident in the first place.
Further, it's worth thinking about the bumps and scrapes you've actually been in - if your experience is that you're regularly in high speed crashes involving other vehicles, but never in incidents where the collision speed is low, or there are no other vehicles involved, then an SUV might be a good idea on safety grounds; if you're like the rest of us, where you're as likely to be in an incident where you're the only motor vehicle involved (e.g. when parking), or where the collision speed is low (fender benders instead of head on collisions), a smaller vehicle meeting modern safety standards is going to protect you just as well, and you'll have money left over for driving lessons.