AAA wants believable fuel economy ratings

HEATHROW, Fla., March 3 (UPI) -- AAA is supporting a bill to force U.S. regulators to update fuel-economy measurements of vehicles, which often fail to meet stated mileage ratings.

The U.S. motorists club conducted its own mileage tests on numerous cars and trucks and found many of them miss their government fuel-economy ratings, USA Today said Friday.

AAA data come from tests done by drivers across the country "getting groceries, getting stuck in traffic jams, driving the same way you would," says AAA spokesman Mantill Williams.

The organization, which concedes its tests aren't scientific but insists the results are representative, planned to endorse a bill that would force the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct realistic assessments of new vehicle fuel efficiency.

The so-called Fuel-efficiency Truth-in-Advertising Act would require EPA tests to "reflect modern driving patterns and experiences, specifically speed and highway-vs.-urban driving," said Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., co-sponsor of the bill with Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.

"Those are no-brainers," she said.