CAFE is particularly interesting because the government recognizes that the standard results in lighter, deadlier cars, killing thousands of additional people on American roads.
For one thing, lighter frequently means "more agile", i.e., better able to avoid a crash.
But even given a crash, modern engineering can yield great safety with light weight. See the results of a "Crash Test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu (Frontal Offset)" [1]. In it, the dummy driver of the big iron Bel Air is pretty thoroughly killed.
While I agree with the statement that lighter is not equivalent to deadlier, it's a straw man to compare a 50 year old car (That doesn't even have seatbelts!) against a modern car. The trivial come-back is "think of how safe a car we could make with modern engineering if it weighed as much as a '59 bel-air"
Lighter <> Deadlier
For one thing, lighter frequently means "more agile", i.e., better able to avoid a crash.
But even given a crash, modern engineering can yield great safety with light weight. See the results of a "Crash Test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu (Frontal Offset)" [1]. In it, the dummy driver of the big iron Bel Air is pretty thoroughly killed.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g