In short, it doesn't matter how energy efficient and non-polluting cars are or will be, the EPA quite simply will always raise the bar, even if it means condemning the very technology that makes cars operate to produce cleaner emissions. The feds are now gearing up to include the nation's trucking system in its war on drivers. This is madness. It doesn't end there. By the summer of 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was advocating replacing all light trucks, i.e. pickups, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles , with cars because it would, they said, save 2,000 lives each year.
More people drown each year just taking a swim.
Well, in 1997, the death rate on the nation's roads fell to a record low. The U.S. Department of Transportation concluded there were 1.6 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. Mind you, this occurred despite efforts to get Americans to use trains and other mass transit. For example, the future of Amtrak is even more shaky. Since its inception in 1970, the number of miles traveled by car has risen by two thirds to more than 2.6 trillion.