Controversies: Too Small To Be Safe?

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Common sense -- and the laws of physics -- dictate that a large automobile will provide greater protection from injury in an accident than a smaller one. A crash test conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on a 3,900-lb. Ford Crown Victoria and a 1,900-lb. Subaru confirmed that logic. But Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, claims that smaller cars are nearly as safe when they are equipped with air bags and that tests proving this were ignored by the Federal Government. The group accuses the government of playing politics with the test results in order to defeat a Senate measure that would require all cars to improve the fleet average to 40 m.p.g. by the year 2000 -- a goal that would force the auto companies to make smaller cars. A car industry spokesman, however, counters that the new standards will force the consumer into fewer choices and a greater risk of serious injury.