At the other end of the spectrum, the 10 least fuel-efficient trucks represent only about four percent of light truck sales. At the same time, the notion that the least fuel-efficient trucks make up a large portion of sales is far from accurate. Far more important to most consumers is reducing known risks like crash injury. And decades of analysis conclusively shows that larger vehicles, though less fuel efficient, offer more crash protection than smaller vehicles. In fact, the largest sport-utility vehicles have the lowest fatality rate of any car or light truck class, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Consumers know that car insurance merely protects their investment and liability.
Virtually all minivans today get better fuel economy than the old Volkswagen Beetle. These vehicles may save money at the gas pump, but not enough to offset the loss of other features consumers value. And to help improve child safety, all new cars will feature top anchorages for child-seat tether straps as standard equipment. The new model year is also good for the environment, with many of today's cars and light trucks driving 99 percent cleaner than their counterparts of the 1960s. An analysis of major U.S. cities by AAA shows that overall air quality has and will continue to improve - and that the lion's share of the credit is due to much, much cleaner cars and light trucks.