Why Fuel Economy Standards Don't Kill People

Yesterday, as I was writing up my post about fuel economy standards, I was troubled by one thing: I couldn't find any reports to refute the claim that higher milage standards kill people. The argument, from people like John Stossel on Fox News, is that higher CAFE standards cause car companies to manufacture smaller cars, which are less safe.

Intuitively, this feels right. Smaller cars=less protection=more deaths. And, indeed, when fuel economy standards were first introduced in the 1970s, the only way to meet the standards may have been to shrink the cars.

Luckily for me, I see that Stephen Lacey over at Grist has found the evidence that debunks the myth proves that more small cars don't kill people. The evidence that is often used is from a couple of out-dated studies. The people trying to show that fuel economy standards are unsafe overlook three things.

1. More SUVs and pickup trucks make the roads less safe. Although they protect their passengers, they are far more likely to kill someone in another car when they hit them.

2. Overall safety in cars has increased significantly over the last 30 years.

3. New technology means that auto companies won't even have to make exclusively small cars to meet the fuel economy standards (as I explained yesterday).