Potential alternatives were considered and discussed at the proposed rulemaking stage, and the final rulemaking describes NHTSA's determination that there was no alternative to the standard adopted.
NHTSA did not want an alternative to the standard adopted.
Many responses pivoted on the amusing contrast between uptown swells and downtown schlubs, but this reliable device, the mighty comic engine that generated so many terrific Depression-era comedies and dimwitted Lampoon movies--Snobs vs.