Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety team up on vehicle crash test videos

Posted Thursday, September 6, 2007

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Online videos help consumers make safer car-buying decisions.

Yonkers, NY and Arlington, VA - Consumers now have free access to more than 200 crash test videos as part of a collaboration between Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). These online videos bring a new level of research detail to shoppers looking for a new or used car, minivan, truck, or SUV.

Footage of some 200 vehicles tested at IIHS' state-of-the-art Vehicle Research Center (VRC) in Ruckersville, Virginia, can be found at www.ConsumerReports.org/crashtest. Visitors to the Web site can search by make, model, and year to witness how well the new or used vehicle they are considering-or even their current vehicle-protects occupants in frontal offset and side-impact collisions. Details of crash results, such as overall performance and potential injuries, are explained by Jeff Bartlett, deputy autos editor of www.ConsumerReports.org. CR will add more crash-test videos as the IIHS continues its testing.

Though today's passenger vehicles are designed to be more crashworthy than ever, automobiles are still the most dangerous mode of transportation. Last year more than 31,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in crashes on U.S. roads, the vast majority in front and side collisions.

Most consumers are probably familiar with the IIHS crash tests-and have likely seen some of their crash-test videos on television. On the CR web site, these videos are accompanied by a verbal description of the test to help the consumer better interpret what they are seeing. "These videos bring the crash test data to life, showing the real safety differences between a Good car and a Poor one," Bartlett said. "Rest assured, you will demand side air bags on your next car after watching these videos."

Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety share a common goal: improving vehicle safety. The two non-profit organizations have worked together in the past to bring crash test data and safety information to the car-buying public.

Consumer Reports does not conduct crash tests, but relies on IIHS procedures and findings that meet its own standards. "IIHS conducts the most stringent vehicle crash-test program in the United States, with tests that complement and go beyond those performed by the federal government," according to Consumer Reports' Automotive Editor Rik Paul, "Consumer Reports respects the IIHS findings and factors them prominently in our safety scores and overall vehicle recommendations, along with those from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

"Increasingly, safety is an important consideration when families are shopping for a new vehicle," says Adrian Lund, president of the IIHS. "Comparative ratings and video footage of Institute tests are a valuable resource on the Consumer Reports Web site to help buyers choose the vehicles that afford the best overall protection in serious crashes."

In the Institute's 40-mph offset test, 40 percent of the total width of each vehicle strikes a barrier on the driver side. The three factors evaluated in the frontal-offset-crash test - structural performance, injury measures on the test dummy in the driver seat, and movement of the dummy during the test - determine each vehicle's overall frontal offset crashworthiness evaluation. The Institute began frontal-offset-crash testing in 1995, and more than 297 vehicles have been crash tested since. (The IIHS has also conducted 138 side-impact-crash tests.)

As protection in frontal crashes improves, the relative importance of protection in side impact increases. In crashes with another passenger vehicle, 49 percent of driver deaths in newer model cars and minivans during 2004-05 occurred in side impacts, up from 31 percent in 1980-81. During the same time, the proportion of deaths in frontal impacts declined from 61 percent to 46 percent.

In the Institute's side-impact test, a moving deformable barrier strikes the test vehicle at 31 mph. The barrier weighs 3,300 pounds and has a front end shaped to simulate the typical front end of a pickup or SUV. In each side-struck vehicle are two instrumented dummies representing a small woman and a 12-year-old adolescent. These dummies are positioned in the driver seat and the rear seat behind the driver.

In addition to the free crash-test videos and other information, full vehicle Ratings, recommendations, and reviews are available by subscribing to Consumer Reports magazine or www.ConsumerReports.org. A one-year magazine subscription costs $26; 12-months of online access to www.ConsumerReports.org costs $26. A monthly online subscription is available for $5.95 per month.

With more than 6,800,000 print and online subscribers, Consumer Reports-published by Consumer's Union, the country's
largest and oldest independent product testing organization-is one of the most trusted sources for information and advice on consumer products and services. It conducts the most comprehensive auto-test program of any U.S. publication or Website; the magazine's auto experts have decades of experience in driving, testing, and reporting on cars. To become a subscriber, consumers can call 1-800-234-1645. Information and articles from the magazine can be accessed online at www.ConsumerReports.org.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.org) is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses-deaths, injuries, and property damages-from crashes on the nation's highways.