Venable partner David L. Strickland was quoted in a March 6, 2015 Wall Street Journal article on an auto industry push to earn mileage standard credit for improved safety features. Some researchers argue that improved safety features will lead to fewer accidents, meaning less congestion and better traffic flow. Factors they say could lead to a 30% reduction in fuel standards. Regulators have mostly dismissed the idea noting automakers have met mileage standards in the past.
Skeptical of applying safety features to mileage standards, Strickland said such a move could end up "watering down CAFÉ," due to challenge of quantifying the role of safety features. "It's going to be very difficult to prove the amount of crashes avoided…that turns into the amount of congestion avoided that turns into the amount of fuel savings and emissions reduced. You want to give a credit for something that is meaningful."