Recent action to boost car mileage to an average of 35.5 miles-per-gallon by 2016 presents some interesting challenges and vexing questions.  One question is “Will safety suffer in the search for higher milage?”

A USAToday article takes on that question.

“The Obama administration's sweeping fuel-economy and emissions initiative announced Tuesday reopens a fierce debate over tradeoffs between fuel economy and auto safety.

The government says no tradeoff exists, because nothing in the new rules would force automakers to sell more small cars, which are more dangerous in crashes than larger ones. But some safety experts think otherwise. “

Or, as opined by the CATO Institute, “What do we gain from this? Very little.”

What is your life worth?