Your Car Could Be Hazardous to Your Health

There are labels on cars that tell us in big, bold numbers how many miles per gallon we should expect to get in the city and on the highway, as well as how many stars the vehicle earned in crash tests and how well it should fare in a rollover.

Another label warns of sitting too close to the airbags, and yet another tells us not to drive at Indy speeds in a top-heavy SUV — in order to avoid learning first-hand if the rollover rating is accurate. And of course there’s a warning to apply your foot to the brake before shifting out of Park.

Soon there will be so many warnings on the window label that they’ll have to drop the list of standard equipment to make room. Eventually there will be so many labels you won’t be able to see out the window well enough to drive safely, which, no doubt, would be grounds for adding another warning label.

But yet another label may be coming: a so-called “tobacco label” like the one that’s been proposed for Europe in newspaper, magazine and TV ads.

It mandates that a label, telling just how green the machine is in terms of what and how much gunk it releases into the atmosphere, would have to appear in no less than 20 percent of TV ad time and no less than 20 percent of newspaper or magazine ad space for the vehicle.

It’s called a “tobacco” label because it’s meant to serve a similar purpose as the surgeon general’s warning on cigarette packages about potential hazards to your health.

While it’s just been proposed for Europe, some feel it’s only a matter of time before such labels are encouraged here, first in advertising and then on car windows, alongside the mileage sticker.

CNW Marketing Research, which looks into why people buy the cars they do, surveyed potential new vehicle buyers in the U.S. to learn if they’d give the label a thumbs up or down. It found that 41 percent were in favor, versus only 17 percent opposed. Most had no opinion, which means those in favor could expect a victory if the law were proposed here.

“In Europe, the labels are expected to appear in ads first and in vehicles later,” said CNW general manager Art Spinella. “The labels aren’t in the U.S. yet because environmentalists are more concerned now about convincing Congress to adopt stricter federal fuel economy standards. But once that’s resolved, they’ll take a look at the tobacco label here. Environmentalists here are well aware of the label in Europe.”

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MEPs Back Plans for Warning Labels on Car Adverts (BusinessGreen)