CAFE Vs. Toyota
IBD Editorials
Posted 03/10/2010 07:51 PM ET
Auto Safety: As a Toyota Prius with a stuck accelerator races down a California freeway, no one mourns the victims of the fuel economy standards imposed by Congress. Forced into smaller cars, thousands have died.
We can barely imagine the panic felt by James Sikes, 61, as his Toyota Prius accelerated uncontrollably while he drove down Interstate 8 in San Diego County. We can imagine the continuation of the grandstanding by the owners of "government motors" as they further browbeat a competitor of government-run GM and Chrysler.
We do not minimize the safety issues here that need to be addressed, but we feel a sense of perspective is sorely needed. Toyota has been accused of cutting corners in the name of profit. The Congress that now huffs and puffs in righteous indignation can be accused of increasing the carnage on the nation's highways in the name of saving gasoline.
Sudden-acceleration events in Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been blamed for at least 19 fatalities and 815 vehicle crashes since 1999. That's fewer than two fatalities a year in a country that makes 1.8 million cars annually. How many crashes and fatalities are caused by the use of cell phones and text-messaging while driving?
Let us take a look at the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards enacted by the federal government in response to the Arab oil embargo. Lately, supporters have sought to increase these standards in the name of fighting climate change. They have neither reduced our dependence on foreign oil nor saved the Earth.
What they have done over time is to force Americans into smaller and less-safe vehicles. The rise of the sports utility vehicle was a consumer-driven response led by American families that wanted bigger and safer vehicles to transport them.
Recent research has been lacking, but what studies have been done over time paint a tragic picture.
A 2006 study by Ryan Bilas of the National Center for Public Policy Research documented the various findings that CAFE standards have cost thousands of lives. The laws of physics have not changed since CAFE was first enacted.
According to a 2003 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, when a vehicle is reduced by just 100 pounds the estimated fatality rate increases as much as 5.63% for light cars weighing less than 2,950 pounds, 4.70% for heavier cars weighing over 2,950 pounds and 3.06% for light trucks.
A study done by USA Today, using data from the NHTSA and the Institute for Highway Safety, found that through 1998, weight and size reductions undertaken by automakers to meet fuel efficiency standards had resulted in 46,000 deaths. That's the population of Pocatello, Idaho, wiped out by misguided federal regulations.
A 2001 National Research Council study concluded that CAFE was responsible for up to 2,000 additional deaths on the highway annually. Compare this to Toyota's average of two fatalities per year in a country with 40,000 highway deaths annually, a death rate of 0.005%.
While Congress ponders this and other cases of unintended acceleration, it should ponder its own actions which have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans.
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