Consumers and lawmakers can be confident that increased fuel economy standards will save consumers billions, improve Americas energy security, reduce global warming pollution, and increase consumer choice—all while maintaining the levels of safety and performance that drivers expect.

Fuel economy and safety are compatible, and this fact is supported by several recent studies. These works, summarized below, demonstrate that:

• Increased fuel economy can be achieved with technologies that have nothing to do with the safety performance of a car or truck;
• Historically, higher fuel economy has not been linked with increased fatalities;
• Large vehicles do not have inherently lower fatality rates than smaller vehicles; and
• Increased weight is actually associated with increased fatalities.

National Academy of Sciences, 2002—Effectiveness and Impact of CAFE Standards
This report, requested by Congress, concluded that there is technology already available that could raise the fuel economy of our vehicle fleet without compromising its safety. Most of technologies considered by the NAS relate to engines, transmissions, and other improvements that have no connection to crash safety. Opponents of fuel economy improvements often point to the chapter of the NAS report which took a retrospective look at safety, and gloss over the fact that this chapter did not represent a consensus of the committee or modern safety research (appendices included a dissenting opinion pointing out problems with the majority’s analysis).

S. Ahmad and D. Greene, 2004—The Effect of Fuel Economy on Automobile Safety: A Reexamination
Greene (one of the dissenting NAS panelists) and Ahmad demonstrated that higher fuel economy is not linked with increased fatalities. In fact, their report noted that “higher mpg is significantly correlated with fewer fatalities.” A thorough analysis of data from 1966 to 2002 indicated if the past is precept, fuel economy could likely be increased without harming safety.

M. Ross and T. Wenzel, 2002—An Analysis of Traffic Deaths by Vehicle Type and Model
This analysis of federal accident data from 1995-1999 demonstrated that quality of engineering, rather than weight, is the key determinant of vehicle safety. In other words, a well-designed compact car can be safer than an SUV or a pickup. The study pointed specifically to the Honda Civic and the Volkswagen Jetta as well-engineered compact cars that have lower driver fatality rates than the Ford Explorer, the Dodge Ram, or the Toyota 4Runner.

R. M. Van Auken and J. W. Zellner, 2003—A Further Assessment of the Effects of Vehicle Weight and Size Parameters on Fatality Risk In Model Year 1985-98 Passenger Cars and 1985-97 Light Trucks
This study indicated that while increasing vehicle size tends to decrease fatalities, increasing vehicle weight increases fatalities. This study helped inform NHTSA as it chose to base its model year 2008-2011 light truck rule on a size attribute rather than a weight attribute.

D. Gordon, D. Greene, M. Ross, and T. Wenzel, 2007—Sipping Fuel and Saving Lives: Increasing Fuel Economy Without Sacrificing Safety
This summary report emerged from the 2006 International Council on Clean Transportation Experts Workshop on vehicle safety and fuel economy. It asserts that there is no necessary tradeoff between advancing vehicle fuel economy and advancing vehicle safety. A variety of technologies and approaches exists to improve fuel economy without compromising vehicle safety and vice versa.