Nov 12, 2008

Smaller Cars = Bigger Death Toll?

Reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources seems like a good thing, right? With that in mind, Congress passed an energy bill last year that will lead to steeply higher fuel economy requirements. Those requirements are currently being sorted out by the regulators, and auto manufacturers are busily trying to comply. But a nonpartisan public policy organization, called the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), suggests that an increase in fuel economy requirements could cost American lives. It says that increased fuel economy standards drastically have been undertaken “without regard to technological feasibility or the safety of America’s drivers.”

Vehicle experts predict that the standards might seriously reduce the usefulness of trucks. To get the fuel economy gains required by the legislation, trucks might have to become smaller, lighter and less capable of carrying loads. But that isn’t the most important issue. Safety may be at stake. Why? Because, all things considered, large vehicles have a better safety record than small ones. Attempts like this latest move by Congress to increase fuel economy totally ignore the lethal effect of higher fuel economy standards, which reduce crashworthiness by restricting vehicle size and mass, according to the CEI. In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences found that current fuel economy standards already contribute to thousands of fatalities per year. It is logical to expect that the more stringent standards going into effect soon will increase that death toll.