Automobiles on U.S. roads are much more fuel-efficient now than they used to be. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 required passenger car manufacturers to achieve fleet-average fuel economy of 27.5 miles per gallon by the 1985 model year. In response to this requirement as well as consumer demand, automakers nearly doubled average fuel economy between the mid-1970s and 1984. By the 1990s, there again were calls for even tougher fuel economy requirements. This time around, the Institute injected into the debate the issue of safety by pointing out the adverse safety consequences of downsizing the passenger car fleet during the 1970s and early 1980s. This raised concerns that, if federal fuel economy regulations were made substantially tougher, it would likely cause automakers to make cars even smaller. Then there would be additional, unnecessary deaths. Since then many questions, claims, and counterclaims have been raised about the potential safety implications of present and proposed federal fuel economy requirements - claims that current requirements have produced significant increases in occupant deaths, counterclaims that there have been no adverse safety consequences, and claims that much tougher fuel economy requirements could be imposed on the auto industry without any safety consequences. (Author/publisher)
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