Deadly Auto Regulations May Get Worse

Washington, D.C., December 12, 2002—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is today announcing that it will propose an increase in the fuel economy standards for light trucks, including SUVs.  The increase will likely be 1.5 mpg over three years, beginning with the 2005 model year.

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The Competitive Enterprise Institute is attacking the proposal as increasing the peril of an already deadly regulatory program – the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. “The 2001 National Academy of Sciences study made it clear that CAFE kills.  This latest NHTSA proposal will make that regulation even deadlier,” said Sam Kazman, general counsel of CEI.  “Regardless of whether the proposed increase is characterized as moderate or major, its effect on human safety will be lethal.”

In 1992 CEI won a federal appeals court ruling that the U.S. Transportation Department had illegally ignored CAFE’s deadly effects, which have been estimated to cause between 1,300 and 2,600 deaths a year.  For more information, please visit CEI’s CAFE Cafe.

Expert Available on  Fuel Economy Standards

Sam Kazman

General Counsel

[email protected]

202.331.1010, x214 Recent appearances: CBS Evening News, Wolf Blitzer Reports (CNN), Hardball with Chris Matthews (MSNBC) & Capital Report (CNBC).

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.