They want what is styled a "safe" car – and the government panders to this fear by implying that any car that does not comply with the latest "safety" standards it gins up (and which raise the price of the car, as well as adds to its curb weight, which raises the cost to fuel it) is not "safe."

Logically, this means every car made before the latest round of "safety" standards is not "safe" since it does not comply with the very latest "safety" standards. It would also for that reason be illegal to sell today.

But what does "unsafe" mean, actually?

In general usage, it is taken as being synonymous with dangerous. How so, again? Does it mean a given car is unstable? More likely to crash because of a design flaw that causes it to handle or react erratically? In that case, the car can accurately be described as dangerous – as "unsafe."

But very few such cars have ever been made. Poorly made ones, surely. But even notoriously "unsafe" cars like the first-generation Corvair and the Ford Explorer of the '90s were only unsafe if their drivers made them so by not maintaining correct tire pressure and then driving them recklessly.