David Deemer

Online Safety Act: "a little inconvenience is a small price to protect our children"

Asking people to drive responsibly where there are children: *tumbleweeds*

Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one? The anti-tobacco playbook could help turn the US public against their beloved oversized cars.

Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?

The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.

This is a good article, worth reading.

Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat

E-Bikers Ride Much Farther and More Frequently Than Regular Bikers They are not 'cheating,' but are serious transportation.

The “E-Bike Effect:” Those who bought e-bikes increased their average daily bicycle use from 2.1km (1.3 miles) to 9.2km (5.7 miles), a 340% increase. The e-bike share of all their transportation increased dramatically too; from 17% to 49%.

E-bikes support fewer car trips.

V @lloydalter.bsky.social

Every day the world presents you with the wrong battles, designed to waste your energy so you don't fight the right ones.

And every inch of ground regained will be contested. Decades of damage done.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL LOSE HEALTH CARE IN YOUR STATE? Alabama - 219,803 - Alaska - 39,989 Arizona - 365,984 Arkansas - 158,745 California - 2,368,466 Colorado - 240,953 Connecticut – 86,580 Delaware - 54,957 Florida - 1,936,421 Georgia - 651,540 Hawaii - 62,483 Idaho - 72,815 Illinois - 535,849 Indiana - 267,996 lowa - 113,979 Kansas - 92,937 Kentucky - 184,526 Louisiana - 267,550 Maine - 61,488 Maryland - 245,929 Massachusetts - 326,262 Michigan - 453,101 Montana - 55,981 Nebraska - 78,275 Nevada 114,500 New Hampshire - 46,388 New Jersey - 363,330 New Mexico - 111,997 New York - 1,019,121 North Carolina - 651,982 North Dakota - 24,488 - Ohio - 489,815 Oklahoma - 211,794 Oregon - 198,089 - Pennsylvania - 483,868 Rhode Island - 47,359 South Carolina - 285,857 South Dakota - 33,838 Tennessee - 310,056 Texas - 1,671,965 Utah - 188,494 Vermont -35,242 Virginia - 322,984 Washington - 328,695 Minnesota - 173,268 West Virginia - 82,225 Mississippi - 153,910 Wisconsin - 276,175 Wyoming - 20,407 Missouri - 265,298 THAT'S 17 MILLION LIVES REPUBLICANS ARE PUTTING AT RISK

Trump and MAGA voted to kill 17 million Americans. The Big Beautiful Bill is the Big Autogenocide Bill. #3E #EndAutogenocide

Proposed Medicaid cuts would undermine financial well-being, increase preventable mortality Medicaid cuts proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives' Budget Committee could lead to between 651 and 12,626 medically preventable deaths annually and increase the number of uninsured Americans ...

Such important work right now, quantifying the impact these cuts will have on the health of Americans (up to 12.6k preventable deaths/yr!). Contact your legislators and share your thoughts. Thanks @awgaffney.bsky.social and colleagues for your work! immattersacp.org/weekly/archi...

‘Active travel’ study identifies pathways for designing walking- and cycling-friendly cities City-level policies reduce global emissions by 6% and create about $435 billion in health benefits.

What happens when cities invest in walking & biking? UCLA & Google studied 11,500+ cities—the largest global look at active travel.

✅ Safer, denser streets = more walking & biking
✅ A global shift could cut emissions 6%
✅ $435B/year in health benefits
newsroom.ucla.edu/re...

even the NYPD isn't pretending subways are crime-ridden hellscapes!

"Subway crime decreased to the second-lowest level in 27 years, with major crime dropping 18.1% (465 vs. 568) during the first quarter, and zero murders in the transit system for the first time in seven years."

One last question: does this level of benefit and the severity of the harm obligate us to implement these changes to roads—despite the inconvenience, cost, and if the general public does not support these measures?

*watched.

YouTube video by Justine Underhill Why speed limits don't matter

Just wanted the best video I’ve seen on the impacts of design on motor vehicle speed and pedestrian safety. Massive credit to @justineunderhill.bsky.social for a phenomenal job done! #visionzero youtu.be/v6LIYQRglnM?...

Hey, you know what goes really fast, takes up a lot more space, emits a lot more pollution/noise/GHG emissions, costs a lot more public money, and is FAR more dangerous in cities than any kind of bike in a city where most don’t drive?

Cars.

So, about that “enough is enough”…

People in casual spring attire cycle on Argentinierstraße in Vienna—a red asphalt “bicycle street” lined with four-storey buildings, trees and plants, and wooden benches.

People in casual spring attire cycle on Argentinierstraße in Vienna—a red asphalt “bicycle street” lined with four-storey buildings, trees and plants, and wooden benches.

People in casual spring attire cycle on Argentinierstraße in Vienna—a red asphalt “bicycle street” lined with four-storey buildings, trees and plants, and wooden benches.

People in casual spring attire cycle on Argentinierstraße in Vienna—a red asphalt “bicycle street” lined with four-storey buildings, trees and plants, and wooden benches.

Vienna's first Dutch-inspired cycling street was recently completed on Argentinierstraße, totally transforming the 1.3 km corridor. 140 car parking spaces were removed to significantly improve the walking and cycling experience—while adding greenery and seating to also turn it into a place to stay.🧵

Congestion pricing in NYC has been a policy miracle. It has dramatically reduced air and noise pollution, saved drivers time money and New Yorker *lives.* There has been a ~50% reduction in injury crashes in the congestion relief zone. Pricing driving delivers better transportation for *everyone.*

ACOG Statement on HHS Recommendations Regarding the COVID Vaccine During Pregnancy ACOG strongly opposes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' decision to stop recommending the COVID vaccination during pregnancy, citing clear evidence of its safety and effectiveness in p...

ACOG is concerned about and extremely disappointed by the announcement that HHS will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. 🩺 🛟 #ReproSky #WomensHealth

www.acog.org/news/news-re....

Congestion pricing at 29-51 in December statewide; 32-56 in NYC.

Congestion pricing stay/go: 39-41 statewide (-2); 48-38 in NYC (+10).

The wording of the question has changed, but congestion pricing is now at -2 statewide; +10 in NYC in this month's Siena poll. That's a 20 point swing from -22 statewide shortly before launch in December.

December poll: scri.siena.edu/wp-content/u...

May poll: scri.siena.edu/wp-content/u...

Graphic showing how vehicle front design affects pedestrian deaths.

“Vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians. Vehicles with especially tall front ends are most dangerous to pedestrians, but a blunt profile makes medium-height vehicles deadly too.”

Deadly by design. And they know it.

www.iihs.org/news/detail/...

Urban environments significantly increase risk of developing asthma – new research Our study revealed that air pollution, lack of green space and areas built primarily from concrete and asphalt were key factors in asthma risk.

Our study revealed that air pollution, lack of green space and areas built primarily from concrete and asphalt were key factors in asthma risk.

Congestion pricing has improved life in New York City by: reducing cars on the street, speeding traffic (especially at peak hours), speeding buses and making them more reliable, expanding transit ridership, reducing car crashes, reducing noise complaints, and increasing the number of visitors.

Fire response times fell in the NYC congestion zone, even as they increased in the rest of the city.

Car crashes with injuries fell citywide, but they fell especially dramatically in the congestion pricing zone from 2024 to 2025

Local buses have sped up dramatically in the congestion pricing zone.

NYC’s congestion pricing is a policy miracle: Less traffic, less noise, faster transit, more business sales, more transit revenue. And it hasn’t produced the negative effects outside the cordon zone we were afraid of.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Well Is Congestion Pricing Doing? Very. One hundred days in, honking is down; bus speeds are up.

Some stats from 100 days in on congestion pricing:
- Complaints about car-honking are down 70%
- The Holland Tunnel has 65% fewer delays at rush hour; time to get thru it is down 48%
- 6 million fewer cars
- Half as many traffic-related injuries
- 1.5 million more visitors to BIDs year over year

If only the pros outweighed the cons.

New study: Non-car travel modes are more popular than you probably think.

"Respondents dramatically underestimated public support for non-motorized transport relative to their own." @ianwalker.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1016/j.gl...

Pedestrian and Overall Road Traffic Crash Deaths ... This report describes traffic-related deaths rates in the ...

A new CDC report shows that pedestrian deaths fell across the rich world 2013-2022 -- but not in the USA.

Americans were 50% more likely to die walking in 2022 than they would have been in 2013.

By 2022, the US was more deadly for pedestrians than all other countries studied.

After a brief rise in January, daily average traffic volumes have dropped on the New York-region bridges that do not connect directly to the congestion relief zone, debunking the prediction that the toll would divert traffic. Source: Streetsblog: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/12/data-outer-borough-congestion-pricing-spillover-traffic-not-happening

So far, NYC congestion pricing has NOT increased traffic on highways outside of the congestion zone.

Summary: Traffic declined a lot within the congestion relief zone, AND it's flat in other areas where you'd expect traffic to be diverted to.

It's a win-win!
nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/12/d...

Very few Dutch cyclists wear helmets. Yet theirs are among the safest streets on earth. Why?

They understand it’s more beneficial to calm motor traffic, build dedicated infrastructure, and nurture a culture of everyday cycling. Not force the most vulnerable users to armour up.

youtu.be/P7trv9paMxA

Congestion pricing makes NYC safer Just more than a month ago, crossing the chaotic streets of Manhattan with my daughter meant taking a chance with her life, especially as she’s a toddler who would rather run free. We live in the g…

Accidents down 55% and injuries down 51% since nyc congestion pricing (!!!)

www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/22/c...

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

NEW: Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion, according to ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis, which found the sepsis rate for women hospitalized as they miscarried in the 2nd trimester shot up by more than 50%.

https://propub.li/43487Tj