Who Learns From History Better? The Auto Industry or the Government?

Automobile safety, fuel efficiency, style and reliability have increased since the early days of the automobile. The United States federal government went from one of limiting itself to its limited, enumerated powers delegated to it by the US Constitution in the late 18^th century to early 20^th century to a government acting with unlimited and broad powers which are mostly unconstitutional which was intensified by the American progressive movement of the early 20^th century. The automobile industry has learned from their mistakes and improving newer vehicles as to ensure that the newer vehicles don’t end up like the older lemons. Safety has been a concern since the automobile was a mere prototype invention. In fact, some of the worst vehicles in history have served as examples of what automakers should avoid when making cars. A notorious example of a dangerous car was the 1973-1980 Ford Pinto. Although the Ford Pinto was advertised as being an affordable compact car with 27mpg city/39mpg highway, what made the Pinto so unsafe was the design of its gas tank which would explode in the event of a rear-end collision where the Pinto was rear-ended. Despite Ford Motor Corporations knowledge and awareness of the dangerous gas tank design of its monstrosity and how many casualties the Pinto would create, Ford decided it would be better for people riding in the Ford Pintos to die of fire than to spend a few more dollars per vehicle it sold. This did not come without consequences for Ford Motor Company. Ford was pictured as a psychopathic company with disregard for human life and eventually recalled all Pinto models 1976 or earlier. Ford also paid for all damages people suffered from the defective and dangerous product.

                1973 saw an oil crisis where gasoline & diesel fuel had to be rationed for the first time since World War II. This was due to the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries consisting of the Arab members of OPEC, plus Egypt, Syria and Tunisia imposing an oil embargo with the United States in response to US resupplying Israel with fuel during the Yom Kippur war. Every US president since Richard Nixon argued that the US must end its dependence on foreign oil. Neither Nixon nor his successors lived up to that promise. US dependence on foreign oil is still a primary to secondary problem and a threat to our national security since 1973. 37 years have passed since this economic horror ended in March of 1974 after seven months. The 1973 oil crisis started in October of 1973. Since then, the US government has failed to eliminate dependence on foreign oil from the Middle-East and Venezuela and instead have blamed energy and auto companies solely for polluting the environment. The auto & oil companies have countless times failed to learn from their past mistakes and instead look for a way around those realities. In the 1960’s, Chevrolet released its rear-wheel drive and rear engine Corvair. The Corvair was given a bad reputation most notably by Ralph Nader in his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed. The Corvair was the poster car for more auto safety. Corvair riders were furious with General Motors and started suing for damages and what made the Corvair dangerous was the disastrous handling and flammable gas tank. It was easy to lose control of that car and crash. There was no mass produced car which had airbags before the mid 1970’s and side airbags weren’t manufactured until the mid 90’s. The first car to have airbags was the 1974 Oldsmobile Toronado and first with side airbags was the 1995 Volvo 850. The first car to come with seat-belts was the 1958 Saab GT 750. The Chevrolet Corvair’s rear axle suspension was crap and anyone driving/riding in this hell of a safety hazard was more vulnerable to serious injury or even death in a car crash. Its steering column could impale the driver in a head-collision. Its heating system would pump toxic fumes into its cabin and oil leaked like hell. This was before the Ford Pinto. Although the US government has regulated the automobile industry since LBJ’s Great Society in the late 1960’s and demanded better quality cars, the automobile industry in some senses have included new safety features even without the force of the government. Indeed, the recession of 1958 saw a fierce battle for the auto industry and people wanted more fuel efficient vehicles and Ford’s Edsel brand failed after three years in business (1957-1960). Fuel efficiency standards weren’t mandated by California under low emission requirements until the 1990’s.

                Ford repeated the same mistake made in the 1970’s with the Pinto model when making the Crown Victoria (1992-2011). When the Crown Vic was rear-ended in a rear-collision, it would set on fire or even explode! Some law enforcement officers driving Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors were even killed by exploding gas tank due to high speed rear end collisions. In 2005, Ford introduced a fire suppressor option to all new Crown Victoria’s but was optional. 1973-1987 General Motors pickup trucks suffered the same problems as the Ford Pinto. GM Pickup trucks had side saddle gas tanks and were prone to truck fires. By 1992, the total cost of GM truck fire injuries were $2 Billion. Medical technology has advanced and automakers have done little to reduce these safety horrors. It’s not normal for safe cars to just set on fire after a crash! The last thing you want after a car crash is for the car to set on fire!

                Prohibition was known as the “Noble Experiment” that started in the US in 1920 and ended in 1933. Before the start of Prohibition, it was not uncommon for many states to have no drinking age at all. A school-aged child at the early turn of the 20^th century could walk into a drug store and buy narcotics that were legal over 100 years ago. Drug & alcohol abuse were not seen as much of a problem 100 years ago as inhumane child labor conditions were. Prohibition was a great fiasco that resulted in organized crime from bootlegged alcohol sales underground, wild partying & alcohol abuse, adulterated liquor that killed people who drank it(set by mad prohibitionists) and wide contempt for the law. The 18^th amendment banning alcohol was lifted in 1933 but was not completely abandoned. Most states set their drinking ages at 21, but a handful set the drinking age at 18-20, most notably in New York. In the late 1960’s and early 70’s saw the demand for a lower voting age to 18 which was achieved in 1971 and 29-35 states by 1975 have had a drinking age of either 18 or 19. Something never before in the history of this nation besides Prohibition of the 1920’s to early 30’s would be passed on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The MLDA act of 1984 required states to adapt a drinking age of 21 or lose 10% of highway funds that were gained through taxes paid by the people of the US states. In 1987 in South Dakota v. Dole the mandate was upheld and Wyoming became the last state to raise the drinking age to 21 in 1988. By 1990 for the first time in US history, no state had a drinking age below 21 and it had to be strictly enforced. US Senator from New Hampshire Gordon Humphrey despised the legal drinking age of 21 arguing it was discriminatory and unnecessary to fight drunk driving. Instead, he argued that money should have been appropriated to fight drunk driving instead which is more effective and logical because it targets drunk drivers! Mothers Against Drunk Driving was the monster behind this new Jim Crow/Dred Scott of a law! In order to control impaired driving, you have to target the impaired drivers, not responsible social drinkers regardless of age. Canada has a drinking age of 19 (18 in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec) and yet problems with alcohol abuse & drunk driving are minimal to non-existent compared to the United States because drunk driving is treated way more harshly than the United States. Quebec has the toughest drunk driving laws in Canada and has a drinking age of 18 and less alcohol abuse problems and alcohol abuse & drunk driving at any age are considered taboo. Although there are more drinking occasions in European cultures, there are less problems with alcohol abuse because of drinking in moderation. Perhaps the United States can learn from Canada and “wet” European countries on drunk driving & alcohol. Automakers should try to make a car that would drive itself. I predict Lexus will be the first automakers to accomplish making the first mass production driverless car. Driverless cars can solve the problem of dangerous driving and yet Ford and GM still couldn’t fix the exploding gas tank problem to as late as the late 1990’s since the 1960’s and 70’s. Both the auto industry and the government have had a fair share of repeating the same mistakes over and over again.