Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) represents Congress’ way to force manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient cars. Manufacturers meet CAFE standards by producing lighter weight and hence less crash-worthy cars. According to a Brookings Institution study, a 500-lb weight reduction of the average car increased annual highway fatalities by 2,200-3,900 and serious injuries by 11,000 and 19,500 per year. A National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration study demonstrated that reducing a vehicle’s weight by only 100 pounds increased the fatality rate by as much as 5.63 percent for light cars, 4.70 percent for heavier cars and 3.06 percent for light trucks. These rates translated into additional traffic fatalities of 13,608 for light cars, 10,884 for heavier cars and 14,705 for light trucks between 1996 and 1999.
Congressmen have full knowledge of these life and death statistics but doing the bidding of environmentalists and other interest groups is more important than American lives. There ought to be a way to make the invisible victims of Congress visible.