The 1971 “Program Plan for Motor Vehicle Safety Standards” plan initially reported only a $28 billion cost, a $78 billion projected benefit, and a prospective halving of all motor vehicle fatalities by 1980. Three years later, they reneged on those figures almost entirely and disavowed the possibility of achieving the reduction in deaths (Mashaw).
The administration had an overly ambitious initial timeline: fewer than 4 months from the creation of the NHTSA to the deadline of their first batch of rules on January 31st, 1967 (Mashaw).
