Aren’t you amazed what wonderful fuel economy you’re able to enjoy with your modern car or truck? You probably don’t think very much about it as we’ve all come to accept that as common place. Since 1975, when the so-called Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards went into place, our vehicles have progressively been stripped of materials; and have undergone changes in construction methods, that made them stronger and safer than today’s vehicles. It’s really no wonder that when you replace most of the metal with plastic and remove the full frame, (unibody construction), you cause a drastic reduction in weight, producing a remarkable increase in vehicle economy. At what cost, however, has that progress been accomplished? The cost is in a massive number of human lives, killed in vehicle mishaps, in large part due to the way the modern vehicle is built. You won’t hear much about this in today’s “main stream media.” What occupies great deal of the reporting centers on the greater threats of “gun violence” and flatulent bovines.
American vehicles were once commonly said to be built “like tanks.” With the CAFE standards however, all that has changed. According to a study in the Liberal funded Brookings Institute, a 500 pound reduction of the average vehicle increased yearly highway deaths by 2,200 to nearly 4,000. In addition, the study found serious injury from such accidents to increase from 11,000 to nearly 20,000 per year. Those figures, mind you, come from a 1989 study. Things have not gotten better as cars continue to be made smaller and lighter. Is it any wonder that many drivers have opted for the full size pickup or SUV with a full frame, even with the added weight and reduction in miles per gallon?
I think that thoughtful drivers ought to be thankful and supportive of the present administrations’ efforts to pull back on some of the CAFE standards. As a nation we have become energy independent. Games, like those played by Middle Eastern oil producing nations in the ‘70s, cannot have the same effect on us today as they had in the past.
Now if we could only deal seriously with the greater threat of the games being played by the Progressives. They threaten the very existence of the Republic.
THOMAS J. TAMBASCO
Amsterdam
