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GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF AUTO INDUSTRY.
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Discusses safety & environmental concerns. History of regulation & changes.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses safety & environmental concerns. History of regulation & changes.

Paper Introduction:
Introduction Government regulation of the automobile industry is well-entrenched and is designed to protect the public. Safety has been a major concern since the 1950s and has spurred numerous regulations over the decades, while environmental concerns are of more recent origin. Both types of regulation, however, shape the way cars are designed and sold, what features auto makers will include in the package, and even how cars are advertised. The latter is because for all the complaints the auto industry may make about government intrusion and over-regulation, the public wants cars that are both safe and environmentally friendly and can be induced to buy cars that fulfill these requirements. Environmental Regulation

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The government is asking automakers to help develop vehiclesthat would work in concert with embedded highway sensors to reduce the41, crash-related deaths that occur each year in the United States, andkey among the systems under consideration are lane-following devices, rear-end collision detectors, roadway departure warning systems, and driver-condition sensors. "Government Assault: Forcing the Automakers to Think Safety and Fight Smog." Ward's Auto World (1 May 1996), 114-116.Murray, Charles J. The Big Three averaged acollective 13.2 mpg (17.8L/1 km) in 1974, so CAF? forced a fundamentalrethinking in automotive engineering (Gardner 115-116).Safety Regulation Safety was first raised by President Harry Truman when he convened aNational Traffic Safety Council in 1946, declaring that motor vehiclesshould be "progressively designed and constructed for safer operation andmaximum protection from injury in an accident." The country had differentinterests at the time, since the war had just ended, and nothing was done.Six years later, a 1952 Cornell University study found that seat belts likethose used in airplanes could reduce injuries in traffic accidents, butagain, consumers did not show much interest in the idea. If Detroit doesn'texercise it, Washington will, and should." Ralph Nader had much to dowith the safety movement as his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed attackedGeneral Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Corvair and by extension the industry as awhole. Safety has been a major concernsince the 195 s and has spurred numerous regulations over the decades,while environmental concerns are of more recent origin. The latter is because for all the complaints the auto industrymay make about government intrusion and over-regulation, the public wantscars that are both safe and environmentally friendly and can be induced tobuy cars that fulfill these requirements.Environmental Regulation Environmental concerns are addressed from two angles as governmentregulates the production and distribution of fuel and also regulates whatkinds of fuel cars require and what sorts of attachments cars must have inorder to reduce emissions. Theprimary air pollutants found in most urban areas are carbon monoxide,nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter (bothsolid and liquid), and these pollutants are dispersed throughout theworld's atmosphere in concentrations high enough to gradually cause serioushealth problems. Aneditorial in the New York Times in 1965 cited high traffic deaths andstated, "The responsibility lies with the industry. The new agency reported to theDepartment of Commerce and quickly set 17 standards, which includedrequiring seat belts, padded visors, padded dashes with recessed controlknobs, safety door latches, standard bumper heights, and collapsiblesteering columns. Both types ofregulation, however, shape the way cars are designed and sold, whatfeatures auto makers will include in the package, and even how cars areadvertised. The oil crisis of 1973 showed how the global economy would jolt ourpost-war prosperity, and the second "oil shock" in 1979 more than doubledgas prices between 1978 and 1981. Introduction Government regulation of the automobile industry is well-entrenchedand is designed to protect the public. The federal governments followed suit in 1968 by imposingnationwide standards similar to California's. Honda, Mazda, and Mercedes-Benz came up with engine technology to easilymeet those goals, but the Big Three lobbied successfully for a two-yeardelay in the deadline. Works CitedGardner, Greg. Recently, the federal government cited studies showing a dramaticincrease in the use of cars during the next 2 years and called onautomakers to work with government agencies more closely on electronicssystems that could help improve highway safety and reduce trafficcongestion. It would be morethan a decade before safety developed a political constituency. From 195 to 1966, the number of people killed each year in traffic accidentsincreased from 34,763 to 53, 41. Motor vehicles produce high levels of carbon monoxides(CO) and are a major source of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Senator Edmund Muskie led aneffort to amend the Clean Air Act in 197 , calling for emissions of carbonmonoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide to be cut by 9 percent by 1976. More and more powerful cars were on theroad when, in 1964, Congress established the first safety standards for the5 , cars purchased each year by the General Services Administration.Within a year, the public was asking for broader government action. "Air Pollution: Causes and Effects." http://healthandenergy.com/air_pollution_causes.htm (16 Jan 2 ). Congress responded by establishing the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration (NHTSA) in 1966. More than two dozen new standards were adopted by 1969.By 1969, NHTSA was pushing for air bags, and GM responded first byinvesting $8 million to outfit up to 3 , 1974-'76 Buicks, Oldsmobiles,and Cadillacs. According to theseregulations, by 1978 the average of a manufacturer's line of passenger carswould have to be at least 18 mpg (13 L/1 km), a standard that was set at27.5 mpg (8.5L/1 km) by the 1985 model year. In that sense, the battle for moreenvironmentally friendly vehicles and safer vehicles has already beendecided in favor of the government. Most air pollution is emitted from the exhaustsof automobiles or from the burning of fossil fuels by industry. The government has also encouraged automakers tocontinue work on vision enhancement, such as the Night Vision system nowused by Cadillac (Murray 14).Conclusion Government regulation has brought about numerous changes in the waycars are designed and sold, and though automakers have fought against manyof these regulations, they have also embraced the underlying ideas as thoseideas have appealed to the public. "We'll Team on Car Safety." Electronic Engineering Times (1 April 2 ), 14.Socha, Tom. The Democratic Congress passed theEnergy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 and created the acronym thatDetroit hates, CAF?, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Fuel combustion in stationary sources is the dominant source of sulfurdioxide (SO2)(Socha). Regulators targeted air pollution beginning in the late 196 s, withCalifornia taking the lead by requiring exhaust-control devices in the 1966model year. Customers were not yet ready for this change, which wouldbe mandated much (Gardner 114-115). Once GM developed its catalytic converter, whichrequired drivers to use only unleaded fuel, all three domestic makers wereable to meet the goal without drastic break-throughs in engine technology(Gardner 115-116).

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