Automobile Industry
Rolling back fuel economy standards will do nothing to improve traffic safety, and will be very costly for American consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumer Reports, the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, today released an analysis showing that American consumers will lose about $460 billion dollars in fuel savings in the coming years if the federal government goes forward with plans to roll back the nation’s fuel economy and emissions standards for new cars and light-duty trucks.
The rollback was just submitted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review within the White House, suggesting the proposal may soon be finalized. Even though the basis for the rollback proposal is purportedly to improve highway traffic safety, and thus named the “SAFE Rule” by federal agencies, this analysis by Consumer Reports (CR) finds that freezing fuel economy and emissions standards would not improve safety.
Iacocca Is Rightly Remembered For The Mustang But The Minivan Is His Biggest Legacy
In the days since his death at 94, former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca has been rightly lauded as the father of the Mustang, from his days at Ford, and the brand-saving K-car, from his time at Chrysler. But when I think of Iacocca, one word comes to mind: minivan. Iacocca did not invent the minivan, any more than Ray Kroc invented McDonald’s. Rather, both men had the vision to see the massive potential of their respective products and the will and smarts to bring them to market.
Car Crashes Aren’t Always Unavoidable – The Atlantic
In a country where the laws compel the use of cars, Americans are condemned to lose friends and relatives to traffic violence. My childhood neighbor was a varsity student-athlete, the president of the junior class, and the most popular girl in school. One day in September 1995, a car crash took her life. She had been driving home on the freeway when her car went across the median and collided with one going the opposite direction, killing both drivers. A third vehicle was said to have struck her car moments before, causing her to lose control. The police put out a call for information, apparently without success.
My neighbor’s passing was shocking and heartbreaking. But at the time, it felt like a basically unavoidable tragedy. In our small city in Michigan—like almost everywhere in America—driving is the price of first-class citizenship. We never stopped to ask whether a different bargain was possible. Since her passing, approximately 1 million more Americans have been killed in car crashes. In America, the freedom of movement comes with an asterisk: the obligation to drive. This truism has been echoed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has pronounced car ownership a “virtual necessity.” The Court’s pronouncement is telling. Yes, in a sense, America is car-dependent by choice—but it is also car-dependent by law.