Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

When car shopping, watch it crash

WASHINGTON - Car shopping? Maybe you should go to the videotape.

Jarring images of vehicles crashing into test barriers are becoming more prevalent on the Internet, giving safety-conscious car shoppers another tool when searching for the right car.

Consumer Reports now offers a library of crash test videos for more than 200 vehicles on its Web site, letting buyers watch the tests while considering which car to buy. The tests were conducted by the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which issues safety ratings for vehicles.

"It's hard to believe anyone watching any of these videos wouldn't make safety a No. 1 priority for themselves when car shopping," said Jeff Bartlett, the deputy autos editor for www.ConsumerReports.org.

Car buyers can also find similar crash test videos in the autos section of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com, along with footage from test drives and auto shows.

Bartlett said the videos on Consumer's Web site "bring our ratings to life" and are accompanied by a narration describing how each vehicle performed in front-end and side tests.

Volkswagen AG garnered attention last year for its "Safe Happens" ad campaign, which showed motorists surviving violent crashes. On YouTube, hundreds of thousands of viewers have watched footage of a Chinese-built Chery Amulet being pulverized in a Russian crash test.

Automakers say the videos could serve as another resource for shoppers but caution that the images may not give the full story of a car's safety.

Industry officials noted a vehicle's safety qualities could be affected by a number of factors, including the type of crash, speed and road conditions.

Bill Kwong, a spokesman for Toyota, said that without accompanying test data the videos fail to give consumers specific information about how well the vehicle would protect the driver.

[Last modified August 26, 2007, 01:34:50]