Have Your Say! | Green Energy News

December 28, 2003 – Vol.8 No.40

HAVE YOUR SAY!

The U.S. Department of Transportation, through its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on proposed reforms to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and is seeking public comments. That means you.

CAFE was devised in the 1970’s when light trucks were used for work not everyday transportation, and Sport Utility Vehicles (or their equivalent back then) were really driven off-road, not just to the mall.

One of the proposed rule changes is to push SUV’s and minivans out of the light truck category into the same category as cars. Treated as cars, not trucks, SUV’s would have to be much more efficient and adopt safety and damage reducing features such as low-speed crash absorbing bumpers. The rationale of this proposed change is that if these vehicles are being used like cars - to transport people on paved roads - they should grouped into that category.

NHTSA, industry and advocacy groups have had their say. Makers of the larger SUV’s don’t like this idea. They’d have to make lighter SUV’s and utilize new technologies, like hybrids. Makers of smaller SUV’s, like Honda, don’t seem miffed. Lighter weight doesn’t necessarily sacrifice safety they say, for instance.

As above, NHTSA has opened the proposed changes to public comment. With the wonders of the Internet, comments can be submitted online. To date there is only a handful at the website. More input from the public would be worthwhile.

The proposed rulemaking changes are at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/CAFE/rulemaking.htm (see Reforming the Automobile Fuel Economy Standards Program and related documents on that same page and visit http://dms.dot.gov to make your submission. (See NHTSA-2003-16128 and NHTSA-2003-16709 under Dockets Open for Comments, Click Comment/Submissions to have your say.)