Author Topic: Trump's EPA argues people will die in car accidents unless standards are lowered  (Read 2891 times)

russianswinga

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Because, you see, if you raise MPG standards, people will buy smaller cars, and thus be unsafe, and we can't have that. Purchase your SUV on credit and pay for gas or else!

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-fuel-economy-trump-20180419-story.html

GuitarStv

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Why are so many Americans so content to have incompetent people in power?

honeybbq

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Guns don't kill people, LITTLE CARS kill people!!

TheGrimSqueaker

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Why are so many Americans so content to have incompetent people in power?

There are significant numbers of people who like to believe they are smarter, more ethical, and overall superior to their leaders.

scottish

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Why are so many Americans so content to have incompetent people in power?

There are significant numbers of people who like to believe they are smarter, more ethical, and overall superior to their leaders.

Ahem.  It's not like they have a monopoly on it.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Why are so many Americans so content to have incompetent people in power?

There are significant numbers of people who like to believe they are smarter, more ethical, and overall superior to their leaders.

Ahem.  It's not like they have a monopoly on it.

I never said the phenomenon is unique to the USA; in fact I've seen it in action elsewhere. Tragically, it's most likely a global human thing born out of the self-esteem movement.

People like to believe they're equal to, or perhaps superior to, other human beings who happen to be authority figures. The rationale is that there are plenty of different areas of expertise and eminence or authority in one domain doesn't necessarily imply status in another: wise legislators therefore rely on input from experts in science, economics, medicine, engineering, and other fields before passing laws that affect those domains. The problem arises when people with *no* particular excellence or competency in any area whatsoever get the idea that they should receive the same respect and compensation as people who have taken the time to develop knowledge and expertise. They behave as though their ignorance produces a point of view and opinion that is just as valuable as a well researched one. But at the same time they realize that they don't actually have the things that ordinarily produce credibility (such as practical experience, theoretical research credentials, badass performance skills, or anything else that make them an authority in a particular field). They do not impress anyone in their "own" field, so they seek out the society of other mediocrities, preferring them to people of excellence. Sadly, that mentality affects how they vote.

I regard it as a failure of the self-esteem movement.

trollwithamustache

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so, guys, this is true that if you are in a car accident and in a bigger car you are less likely to be hurt or generally have less severe injuries.

By biking most of the time, yes you've totally sidestepped the big car/little car statics problems.  Which is a different solution than our technocrats reached.

GuitarStv

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Why are so many Americans so content to have incompetent people in power?

There are significant numbers of people who like to believe they are smarter, more ethical, and overall superior to their leaders.

Ahem.  It's not like they have a monopoly on it.

Looks like I'm not the only one who has been reading Ford's polling numbers.  :S

alanB

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so, guys, this is true that if you are in a car accident and in a bigger car you are less likely to be hurt or generally have less severe injuries.

By biking most of the time, yes you've totally sidestepped the big car/little car statics problems.  Which is a different solution than our technocrats reached.

The argument is not about the size of the cars, but rather the composition.  Reducing the average weight of each car is the key challenge to meet CAFE standards.  From the article:
Quote
California's push to keep the Obama-era rules in place is backed by extensive safety modeling. It gamed out potential safety concerns by redesigning three models of cars — a Toyota Venza wagon, a Honda Accord sedan and a Chevy Silverado pickup — with the most lightweight materials. The simulated crash testing showed fatalities would not increase, according to officials at the California Air Resources Board.

The regulations are not going to stop you from buying a huge truck, they are just going to make more of it out aluminum.  I personally think that modern cars are safe enough, even small ones.  If you had to make a list of "most likely reasons that you will die in a car crash," would you put "size of car" near the top?  Seems like a relatively minor factor to me.