A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline

The Union of Concerned Scientists report 'A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline' analyzes the safety and environmental shortcomings of SUVs and light trucks in the United States. It highlights high rollover fatality rates, significant air pollution, and poor fuel economy compared to passenger cars. To demonstrate potential improvements, the authors propose two model vehicles—the UCS Guardian and the UCS Guardian XSE—which utilize existing technologies such as unibody construction, advanced engines, and electronic stability control to increase fuel efficiency and reduce fatalities without sacrificing vehicle size or performance.

• In 2002, light truck fuel economy reached its lowest level since 1981, resulting in the average light truck owner spending over $11,000 on gasoline over the vehicle's lifetime.
• Light trucks produce significantly higher emissions than cars; the average model year 2002 light truck produced 40% more global warming gases and 1.5 to 5 times more nitrogen oxide emissions than cars.
• SUV occupants faced a fatality rate in single-vehicle rollover accidents nearly three times higher than that of car occupants in 2000.
• SUVs and pickups are more dangerous to other road users due to their weight, stiffness, and height; those in accidents with large pickups were nearly four times more likely to die than those in accidents with average midsize cars.
• The proposed UCS Guardian model achieves a CAFE test fuel economy of 27.8 mpg and could save over 2,200 lives annually if adopted by all SUVs, with technology costs of $600 for fuel economy and less than $140 for safety.
• The high-performance UCS Guardian XSE model reaches 36.3 mpg and could save over 2,900 lives annually, utilizing technologies like a six-speed automatic transmission and electronic stability control.
• Implementing Guardian XSE technology across the U.S. fleet of cars and trucks could result in an average fuel economy of 40 mpg by 2014, reducing oil use by two million barrels per day by 2015.
• The report identifies a 'gap' in air pollution standards where 'light' light-duty trucks (under 6,000 lbs) are permitted to emit more than 1.5 times the nitrogen oxides of cars.

APA

Friedman, D., Nash, C. E., & Ditlow, C. (2003). A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/building_a_better_suv_web.pdf

Chicago

Friedman, David, Carl E. Nash, and Clarence Ditlow. A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2003. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/building_a_better_suv_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Friedman |first1=David |last2=Nash |first2=Carl E. |last3=Ditlow |first3=Clarence |title=A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=September 2003 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/building_a_better_suv_web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friedman2003blueprint, author = {Friedman, David and Nash, Carl E. and Ditlow, Clarence}, title = {{A Blueprint for Saving Lives, Money, and Gasoline}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2003}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/building_a_better_suv_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }