In order to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) to 35 mpg people will have to drive cars that are lighter and smaller–in other words, cars that are more dangerous and more deadly. Last year I recounted some of the findings related to this issue here on the Locker Room, but they clearly need to be repeated.
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According to a 2003 NHTSA study, when a vehicle is reduced by 100
pounds the estimated fatality rate increases as much as 5.63 percent
for light cars weighing less than 2,950 pounds, 4.70 percent for
heavier cars weighing over 2,950 pounds and 3.06 percent for light
trucks. Between model years 1996 and 1999, these rates translated into
additional traffic fatalities of 13,608 for light cars, 10,884 for
heavier cars and 14,705 for light trucks.
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A 2001 National Academy of Sciences panel found that constraining
automobile manufacturers to produce smaller, lighter vehicles in the
1970s and early 1980s “probably resulted in an additional 1,300 to
2,600 traffic fatalities in 1993.”
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A 1989 Harvard-Brookings study estimated CAFE “to be responsible for
2,200-3,900 excess occupant fatalities over ten years of a given [car]
model years’ use.” Moreover, the researchers estimated between 11,000
and 19,500 occupants would suffer serious but nonfatal crash injuries
as a result of CAFE.
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The same Harvard-Brookings study found CAFE had resulted in a 500-pound
weight reduction of the average car. As a result, occupants were put
at a 14 to 27 percent greater risk of traffic death.
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Passengers in small cars die at a much higher rate when involved in
traffic accidents with large cars. Traffic safety expert Dr. Leonard
Evans estimates that drivers in lighter cars may be 12 times as likely
to be killed in a crash when the other vehicle is twice as heavy as the
lighter car.
Is there any doubt that the blood for gas mileage president will continue to transport himself and his family in large cars that get less than 35 mpg?
