Out of morbid curiosity (ban pun intended), does anyone pay a lot of attention to the http://www.nhtsa.gov/ and http://www.hwysafety.org/ crash test ratings before buying a vehicle?

Obviously it's only a part of the picture, because they only test from certain speeds and certain angles. Emergency handling is also important. And of course, if your 1-3 ton vehicle gets mashed by a 25 ton semi, it doesn't matter what it was rated, you dead. Still, I think it's worthy of a lot of attention.

Mazda, unfortunately, has only been average for crash test ratings. If the RX-8 only does so/so, I figure that's acceptable because if they compromise too much on performance for safety it wouldn't sell. If the 6 doesn't do well, I'll be disappointed. I don't care how nice it is to drive, if it's far behind an Accord, Passat, or Impala in the crash tests I wouldn't get it.

This is all hypothetical discussion anyway, since I won't be car shopping for years, barring any accidents. Still, I'm curious to see how much weight everyone else gives safety rating in the buying process.

i'm not completely convincted that NHTSA on EuroNCAP test are the only way to prove a car's safety.
Sure are a good info but these ratings dont' explain all.
In Europe there is A Car Maker (Renult) that had gain five stars (the max) with all the latest three model that have launched on the market (Laguna, Velsatis and Megane) But the French engineers have admitted who they have projected the car's structure ONLY to arrive to the max in EuroNCAP test . I'm not so sure that in road condition you have always the Euroncap condition....

But god rating in crash tests remain an important value (but not the only)