Small Cars Are Dangerous Cars - Fuel economy zealots can kill you!

DANGER - Safety vs. car weight issue seen as largely ignored.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (4/17), Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes, "The super-high efficiency minicar has become the Holy Grail for many environmentalists," but an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study found that minis offer "significantly less protection for their passengers" during two car crashes. "That's not what advocates of higher fuel-economy standards want to hear. Greater weight may increase crashworthiness, but it also decreases miles per gallon, so there's an inevitable trade-off between safety and efficiency." However, "with the exception of IIHS, there's practically no one else providing information on the size-safety issue." A federal appeals court found the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "guilty of using 'mumbo jumbo' and 'legerdemain' to conceal" the "lethal effects" of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993371229527975.html

"Don't expect" the Environmental Protection Agency to "admit to CAFE's dangers," Kazman writes, adding that Consumer Reports "has consistently failed to mention the importance of size and weight in discussing how to choose a safer car."

If you or a loved one has been injured in a “small car” crash, call the TRIPP LAW FIRM at (888) 392-LAWS (5297) for an immediate telephone case evaluation. Injury Attorney G. Alan Tripp, Jr., his investigators and the on-call staff of the TRIPP LAW FIRM are available 24 hours a day.

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ACCIDENT IN A SMART CAR, TOYOTA YARIS, HONDA FIT? - Florida residents and people across the United States may be at RISK FOR SERIOUS INJURY!

Recently, network news has been covering microcars' poor safety rating.

Television coverage of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's poor rating given to microcars during crashes with large vehicles. www.iihs.org/video.aspx/releases/pr041409

All three major networks ran segments on the story. NBC Nightly News (4/14, story) Williams reported, "Saving money, saving the environment, by driving one of the tiny new cars, the kind that have been all over Europe for years but are just now starting to catch on here." NBC (Costello) added that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests "that while mini, or microcars, get great gas mileage, their size makes them far less safe than mid-size cars." Costello continued, "Now, new, head-to-head crash tests for the Smart Car, the Toyota Yaris, and Honda Fit, all of them crashed against mid-sized cars from their own parent companies and all earned poor ratings."

ABC World News (4/14, story) Gibson reported, "The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety put the tiny Smart Car, the Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris up against mid-size cars and found drivers risk serious injuries in front-end crashes. The automakers dispute that, claiming the microcars are safe."

The CBS Evening News (4/14, story) Smith reported, "Smart USA's president calls the test scenario rare and extreme."

If you have been injured in a vehicle crash as the driver or passenger of a SMART CAR, TOYOTA YARIS, or HONDA FIT – call the TRIPP LAW FIRM – 24 hours a day at (888) 392-LAWS (5297) for an immediate FREE TELE PHONE CONSULTATION. Florida Injury Attorney G. Alan Tripp, Jr. is available to discuss your case. NO FEE OR COST UNLESS YOU WIN.

www.trippfirm.com