It is about more government. Just like environmental protection is not about the environment and just like financial market reform is not about financial safety. Ralph Nader’s Center for Auto Safety had a chance to choose whether they cared more about auto safety or more government control of the car market, and what side do you think they chose?
In the late 1980s, David Henderson tells in his excellent book, The Joy of Freedom, Sam Kazman brought suit against the federal government because economic evidence showed that the CAFE laws led to many more deaths over the life of the cars sold under the CAFE standard than would have happened absent it. Why did the deaths occur? Because part of the way you make a car get better mileage is to make it lighter and smaller.
Which side did Nader and his Center choose to support? Car safety of course. No, you would be wrong. He chose more government regulation instead.
In a similar vain, those who kneel at the altar of subsidized mass transportation are trying to destroy electric cars: