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 magazine’s website offers a library – at – of crash test videos for more than 200 vehicles, letting shoppers 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 .
Car buyers can also find similar crash test videos in the autos section of Microsoft Corp.’s , along with footage from test drives and auto shows.
Bartlett said the videos on Consumer Reports’ website “bring our ratings to life” and are accompanied by a narration describing how each vehicle performed in front-end and side tests. The videos are available for vehicles dating back to some late 1990s model years.
Automakers caution that the images may not give the full story of a car’s safety, which is summarized in government ratings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or by the Insurance Institute.
