Will New Fuel Economy Standards Make Cars Less Safe?

Question

MNS quotes Laura Schewel, an environmental engineer with the Rocky Mountain Institute as stating, "A Chevrolet Suburban is no more protective of its occupants than a much lighter 1999 Accord..." My own experience, Ford Explorer v. Daewoo P.O.S., 1 June 2006, Capitol Beltway indicates Laura s full of s#|+.

(Do Environmental Engineers have to take and pass High School Physics?)

Answer 1

I read that article and I personal don't agree with it at all.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.a...

Answer 2

great laura...so when r u building the hyper car...im sick of people doing one of a kind cars that are Sooo great,,,for a laugh go to Q&A alterturnative energy car section... all those people saying..oh we can run all the cars on mcdonalds waste oil...and the car co have a 150 mpg carb and are hideing it...

Answer 3

It will make the old suburban much safer! A soft smash-able vehicle will absorb the impact. I heard a saying somewhere "You are my crumple zone", proves very true between a solid vehicle and a modern one. Laura is a liar. Laura will be driving a Suburban if she ever gets in a painful accident. I've spoke to several people that used to drive economical cars but switched after accidents.

The name of the job alone sends up a red flag; environmental engineer. Can there even be such a thing? What environment did she design, earth is allready done, is she working on another planet? Maybe she builds fish tanks or some other kind of enclosure. It certainly doesn't say structural engineer so they might as well be quoting Sponge Bob Square pants as they both would have the same qualifications regarding the subject.

Answer 4

You can't expect a P.O.S to take much especially when you admit it's a crappily made care. The size is irrelevant, it's the quality of the materials and engineering that matters.

The smart fortwo, a really tiny car on crash tests can take a 70MPH hit straight into a wall, can maintain structural integrity, and even though the impact part is smashed in the rest of the car holds up as if it was never hit, and since the structure inside holds well, there is a much greater chance for survival for the passengers inside.

Fuel economy has little to do with the lack of safety of cars these days, and more of uninspired engineering from the industry.