There are almost 100 million vehicles still on our nation's highways with unsafe fuel systems, unable to withstand a reasonable rear impact without the risk of catastrophic fire.
Neither the government nor the auto industry is making any effort to fix these vehicles or get them off the road. The risk is especially high among those people who, as result of economic circumstances, drive older vehicles - the same cars that generally have the most dangerous fuel systems.
Although there has been progress in the design of safer fuel systems for passenger cars, the auto industry has been grossly negligent in failing to provide the same level of safety for occupants of light trucks and utility vehicles. Because of political compromises, these vehicles, while being used primarily today in the same manner as passenger cars, are exempt from most crashworthiness standards. There is no excuse for these omissions except lack of perseverance by the government and the financial greed and political clout of the auto industry.
In any case, the innocent public is still the victim.
