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Saving Gas Via Underpowered Death Traps

Posted by Soulskill on from the wait-until-you-see-my-steel-plated-prius dept.

Harperdog writes with this excerpt from a story at Miller-McCune: "Yes, it's true that the fuel-economy standards the U.S. has been using cost lives. Economist Mark Jacobson has estimated that for every mile-per-gallon we raise the standards, 149 traffic fatalities occur per year. That would mean 1,490 deaths if the standards were raised from, say, 30 miles-per-gallon to 40. But this doesn't have to be the case. It's possible, Jacobson has concluded, to increase fuel efficiency without also decreasing safety. And if government officials are smart, they'll tailor the regulations behind the new standards to do this."

5 of 585 comments (clear)

  1. Your kidding, right? by Bodhammer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "And if government officials are smart, "
    That is the biggest if in the world!

    --
    "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
  2. Underpowered, maybe not, but deathtrap nonetheless by Jabrwock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As TFA states, the "deathtrap" is due to the smaller cars being smashed to a pulp when they run into a gas-guzzling behemoth. People are buying big cars not because they need them or that they like guzzling fuel. And maybe not even necessarily because the bigger cars have more "oomph". But also because "driving a tank = I'm safer, especially from other tanks on the road".

    --
    Magic doesn't work in my presence. My power of disbelief is too strong.
  3. Re:Underpowered, maybe not, but deathtrap nonethel by mindwhip · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tanks kill people. Fact.

    You could just as easy turn the whole thing around and argue that the Overweight Gas Guzzlers are doing the damage therefore they are causing the problem.

    --
    [The Universe] has gone offline.
  4. The article is biased by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, the summary is biased. As the article points out, it is in fact the large cars that are dangerous-- they are, however, dangerous to the smaller cars.
    Making cars smaller doesn't result in more deaths-- unless you have large cars on the road as well. It is the larger cars that are killing people. (and the bogus statistic comes from the "National Center for Policy Analysis"-- read: political action group paid to shill for oil companies.)

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  5. Re:How come this by fortfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In at least 12 states, it's because of "no-fault" auto insurance laws, which limit recovery against the accident causer.