Inside How — and Why — Insurance Companies Sell Policies to the Most Dangerous Drivers
When drivers are too dangerous to buy traditional insurance, states often require insurance companies to sell it to them anyway at steep cost. Is that a good thing for safety?
February 16, 2023
How Deadly Are Your Streets? New Data Tool Shows the Hard Truth
A new federal tool helps Americans see at a glance exactly how deadly traffic violence is in their community — and how their neighbors stack up.
February 8, 2023
Biden’s First ‘Mega Grants’ Contain Some Mega Wins — And Mega Fails
A new federal "mega-grant" program will fund major safety and transit projects that have been at the top of sustainable transportation advocates' wishlists for years ... along with business-as-usual highway expansion projects that could negate those mega-gains.
February 6, 2023
Kids’ Psychology Affects How They Behave Around Cars — And Regulators Should Take Note
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has taken steps to understand how a wider range of bodies are likely to fare in a car crash. But as regulators finally begin to look outside the car, some researchers think it's time they start thinking about our brains, too — particularly when it comes to kids.
February 5, 2023
Half of Americans Are Getting Local Vision Zero Plans (Well, Sort Of)
More than half of the U.S. population will soon live in cities or counties with a Safe Streets action plan in place, thanks to a wave of new funding from Washington – but advocates say it will take money and sustained community pressure to ensure those plans are realized.
February 2, 2023
Congress’s Messy ‘Fix-It-First’ Fight Heats Up
A long-fought effort to get states to spend more of their federal infrastructure dollars on fixing highways rather than building new ones is in peril in the newly GOP-lead head house — and if it succeeds, it could force President Biden to take an unprecedented stand in favor of progressive road priorities.
January 23, 2023
Counter-Intuitive Department: Sometimes, Traffic Controls Make Streets More Dangerous
Since the very first center line appeared on a Michigan road in 1911, many have questioned whether the design norms that govern U.S. roads really make them "safe", or simply less dangerous than the anarchic days of early motordom — though still nowhere near as safe as the days before the car dominated American roads at all. Here's why.
January 23, 2023
Driving is Normalized Way More Than We Think — With Terrible Ramifications
People raised in a car-dominated culture are measurably more likely to accept the societal harms and inequities associated with driving than other public health threats — and undoing those powerful double standards will require a profound rewiring of the way we think about the world.
January 20, 2023
Why Don’t Drivers Stop at Crosswalks? Because They’re Driving Too Fast
Many motorists yield to pedestrians in crosswalks — but not when they're driving at deadly speeds, according to a new study that shows the need to slow down car drivers with broader road design changes, and not just more signs and paint.
January 16, 2023
Transport is the Leading Source of U.S. Emissions — Again
America's transportation sector remains the leading national driver of the climate crisis — and automobile drivers aren't helping.
January 12, 2023