1. How U.S. Shifted Gears to Find Small Cars Can Be Safe, Too.
- Author
-
Lundegaard, Karen and Ball, Jeffrey
- Subjects
- *
AUTOMOTIVE fuel consumption , *AUTOMOBILE industry , *ENERGY consumption , *ENERGY research , *AUTOMOBILE safety - Abstract
Focuses on fuel-economy and safety regulations in the U.S. automobile industry. Reasons why the automobile industry as resisted U.S. governmental efforts to improve fuel-efficiency; Review of the last 15 years in the auto industry, noting that gas has been relatively cheap and a lack of motivation to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles; Breakdown of the costs in the industry, noting bigger, gas-guzzling vehicles generate higher profits; Comments from a General Motors Corp. spokesman regarding fuel-economy policies in America; Results of new research suggesting smaller cars can be just as safe as bigger vehicles; Comments from David L. Greene, a research fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a Department of Energy research lab, who co-authored a research paper on automobile crashes; Conventional wisdom regarding automobile safety that Greene's paper refutes; Speculation about new fuel-economy regulations.
- Published
- 2005