There is such a thing as too much regulation

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The U.S. Department of Transportation was created in 1966 as part of the congressional knee-jerk reaction following public outcry in the wake of the publication of Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed. It's since evolved into the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration, or NHTSA, which is tasked with setting design standards and testing vehicles proposed for sale in America. And while vehicles and the roadways they ride on have grown significantly safer during the last 44 years, there have been unintended consequences
 
Having been to various events at the track over more than a decade, I promise, people are keeping those accessories and are most definitely racing.
 
That's nrabroad
a fair car to use. Because it's a race car and they purposely try to make it as light as possible while meeting requirements.

Try a 1990 Civic to a 2010 civic or a Rav4
 
Looks like there was a precipitous drop in vehicle weight with the '70s fuel crisis. Who'd have thought?
 
I never thought I would see the day when 7th had two posts on the front page that were criticizing government... wow!
 
Of course they're heavier. We have these things called "safety standards" that are much more stringent than in the '60s and earlier.

[y] [/y]
 
how dare we create pedestrian friendly noses.


whats next, making sure street signs are visible at night?
 
Cars are generally heavier except for the really huge old land barges that are don't have an equivalent today (although something like the Dodge Magnum will hold its own weight-wise with, say, a 60s Vista Cruiser). Comparing model to model is actually kind of deceptive though, because the same model of car tends to get bigger over time. The current Honda Civic, for example, is larger than a Honda Accord or BMW 5-series from the 80s.

The weight is generally due to structural reinforcement, more sound deadening, and more luxury features and power accessories (radio amps, window mrabroad
ors, and so on) and more passive safety equipment. It should be nrabroad
ed, however, that today's small cars that clock in under 2500lbs are, contrary to popular belief, extremely safe. (For an illustration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY ) It's nrabroad
necessary to have an SUV or a car weighing two tons in order to survive a crash.

I don't blame the government for this misconception, either. Ironically, one of the major safety problems with truck-based SUVs is the roof caving in during a rollover, which often is fatal; the federal roof strength standards for trucks, unlike cars, haven't been updated since the 1970s.

I would be inclined to say that the market can also keep an eye on auto safety -- the IIHS is a private entity that does this now -- but simply wouldn't mandate that people have to buy a safe car if they don't want or can't afford to. Meanwhile, the NHTSA is nrabroad
without its share of stupidity and harm: see for instance the late 80s/early 90s passive seatbelt episode where manufacturers were compelled to install equipment that was actually less safe than they were using before.
 
True, I'm curious if safety regulations or fuel prices have more to do with car weight?

If I had to guess I'd say that fuel prices cause dramatic short term drops, while safety regulations cause gradual long term gains in weight.
 
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