obvious solution to hitting walker at crosswalk

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/581501--signalized-intersections-dangerous-places-for-pedestrians-statistics-show

WATERLOO REGION — Intersections with traffic signals appear to be dangerous places for pedestrians, according to regional traffic statistics.

Last year, 119 pedestrians were struck by vehicles on regional streets and roads and about 70 per cent of those were struck at signalized intersections.

And 75 per cent of the pedestrians hit by vehicles in signalized intersections had the right-of-way when crossing with the “walk” signal at an intersection.

The numbers are contained in the region’s annual collision report.

Bob Henderson, the region’s manager of transportation engineering, said traffic signals are installed to move vehicles through an intersection and not for pedestrian safety.

Henderson said pedestrians should take no comfort in crossing with traffic signals, as the number of pedestrians struck by vehicles usually quadruples after lights are installed.

--------------

Quote from Zoolander: Mugatu: "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!" ...

D - OK, here is the blindingly, stupidly obvious solution.
The 'crosswalk signal' is not for the pedestrian. The walkers KNOW when they are supposed to walk.
It's for the drivers. But it is not physically near the 'driver signal', where the drivers are all looking... why not?
Put the %^*&&*%&!!! crosswalk signal in the same location- preferably even in the same fixture, as the driver signal light.

Honestly, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

light rail. caroline &erb. crunch!!!

http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/647412--waterloo-crossroad-a-potential-mess

D - yeah, what he said.

The intersection of Caroline and Erb streets is an odd traffic challenge. You’ve got one-way streets meeting two-way streets meeting a meandering railway track meeting trails.

Today the intersection is at the heart of a resurgent corner, flanked by the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the Balsillie School of International Affairs and the expanded Knox Presbyterian Church. And guess what’s coming?

Rail transit (a train through the intersection every 7.5 minutes in rush hour by 2017) plus extra traffic from the Barrel Yards condominium development taking shape nearby at Father David Bauer Drive. Up to 1,200 residences are planned.

...

On average the intersection sees nine collisions a year. No one is injured in three-quarters of them and all injuries between 2005 and 2010 were minimal or minor. The intersection is not among the region’s 100 most dangerous, possibly because people tend to pay attention in making their way through it.

The unusual traffic mix is evident in reviewing 51 collisions between 2005 and 2010. The tally includes five collisions involving bicycles, three involving pedestrians and one between a train and a car in which no one was hurt.

--------------

D - provide fast (even more costly) bus service in this PRIME high-density area (along with the new condo down the road at Westmount!) and voila. No more cars.

I don't know what it is - likely the trail to the U - but cyclists act like idiots at this corner, blowing thru don't walk stale green lights.
I've nearly creamed a coupla myself.

graphic florida pedestrian-safety video

http://autos.aol.com/article/is-a-pedestrian-safety-video-too-graphic/?ncid=dynaldusaolp00000023


http://autos.aol.com/article/is-a-pedestrian-safety-video-too-graphic/?ncid=dynaldusaolp00000023

D - that's not my complaint. Most of the video involves walkers acting like squirrels scurrying randomly across streets fast, without looking, and from unexpected places.
I'd be happy if cars just checked at pedestrian crosswalks.

divert cars to surface road from freeway for < co2

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111214144758.htm

Funneling cars along surface streets instead of freeways helped to limit fuel consumption, for instance. Intelligently targeting travelers was another strategy that worked: Rerouting just one fifth of drivers -- those who would benefit most from a new path -- reduced regional emissions by about 20 percent.

Sadek, a transportation systems expert, says one reason green routing is appealing is because it's a strategy that consumers and transportation agencies could start using today.

------------------------

D - and in the summer, this would mean less smog days.

Aside- there is a proposal for a HOV - high occupancy vehicle- lane - a carpool- on the 401.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/634394--highway-401-carpool-lanes-proposed

D - despite working fine, they are deeply resented and disliked by most drivers.

Ignorance should not control policy though.

boxcars better than trucks

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208173716.htm

Much of that impact boils down to simple efficiency, according to Erica Bickford, a graduate student in UW-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. For each ton they carry, long-distance trucks go about 150 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel. Trains can move a ton more than 400 miles per gallon.

Shifting from road to rail 500 million tons of the freight passing through or to the Midwest would make a large dent in the carbon dioxide spilled into the air by the movement of goods.

"There's a 31 percent decrease in carbon dioxide produced by freight shipping in the region, and that's straight from emissions," says Bickford, who made a model of freight traffic in 10 Midwestern states from Kansas to Ohio that she presented December 8 in San Francisco at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "It's 21 million metric tons of CO₂, the equivalent of what's produced by about 4 million cars."

D - let's see if CN can remain relevant.

There was a nasty article in the G&M biz section a few weeks back. Talking about the total lack of accountability for where/when the package is compared to any courier service.

light rail. thoughts.

WATERLOO REGION — Bureaucrats planning rail transit want to find a private firm to operate the $818-million system that launches in 2017.

Rapid transit director Nancy Button proposed Tuesday that council own the transit system and set standards and fares. A private partner would design, build, finance, maintain and operate it under contract for up to 30 years.

The private firm would assume risks around construction and operation, Button explained, while bringing expertise and innovation that regional government lacks.

Rail transit “really is outside the scale of anything the region has done internally,” Waterloo Coun. Sean Strickland said.

-----------------

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/635695--private-firm-may-build-operate-rail-transit

D - this ignores the need for mixed development zoning and such.

Waterloo is nearly out of new land to develop. We won't have all that developer cash flowing in, which will leave us in the same boat as Mississauga, which is finding it cannot afford to maintain it's hard and soft public infrastructure.

There is every indication that detached single family houses do not pay for themselves with property taxes.

There was a great article by Mr. Diamond with a Toronto architect firm last Friday in the G&M. But their search engine is nigh-useless, and I could not locate it again.

He suggested requiring intensification only where there are bus routes, instead of the usual v.v.

1st Google remote car - now walking 'bots?

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/honda-asimo-2011-update/?ncid=dynaldusauto00000003

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/googles_self-driving_car_where_it_stands_in_histor.php

They have a very good safety record.

http://asimo.honda.com/

So here is my idea. We make robo-pedestrians. They scrupulously adhere to the rules of the road. They cross at cross walks, and always wait for the walk signal.

BUT. They always walk when they have right-of-way.

The result? A whole lot of traffic accidents between car and robot Fender benders. I prefer the idea of 500 pound supertough robots that do a good number on the car. Soon, those drivers can no longer afford car repairs, or end up with too many demerit points to drive, or their insurance goes very high. A very few might learn how to drive.

The other day, a scenario from a coupla weeks ago happened again. I thought it was a blue-moon rare sort of things. Apparently not.

Once again, a woman driver stared on oncoming traffic to her left, with the intention to turn right. She waited for the light to turn. No more traffic was coming through the red light. She had right of way. And... she did not even LOOK anywhere else before starting to roll out. Of course, I had been there the whole time, and she had plenty of time to glance about.

She didn't. I've described cross walks as kill zones for walkers.

Robots would convert them into fender-bender zones instead.

A great improvement, if you ask me.

Additional beef- there was a bicyclist killed by UW last year. I am not sure how the driver ended up in the bike lane. But I've been watching how cars drive with roads with bike lanes. About 1 in 20 or so drivers centres off the cub and not the bike lane line. Most of the time, they have good visibility and reaction time to move left if there is a cyclist in the bike lane.

Well, most of the time. Bad drivers typically have clumps - veritable swaths - of poor driving skills. So they also drive about a second behind the vehicle in front of them. If that vehicle happens to be a van or SUV or truck, then such drivers have poor sight lines to see a cyclist as well as little reaction time. The result:

1) cyclist in their bike lane

2) cyclist suddenly struck from behind with a speed difference of possibly 40kph. Which starts getting dangerous if not downright lethal.

Related beef - I KNOW the city does not use street cleaners very often to maintain bike lanes. The result is a mix of gravel and possibly glass. It's hard to see glass in time with that much debris. Cyclists react by hanging left in the bike lane, often straddling the car lane in the process. If a car centres on their lane properly, they may very well still clip the cyclist. It's not enough to build a bike lane. It must be built well and then MAINTAINED. Otherwise, best not to bother.

Just saying.

roundabout from hell

http://www.therecord.com/videozone/613149

By St. Mary's high school.

Before: http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/572637--biggest-roundabout-set-to-open-for-traffic

This is causing some anxiety among residents interviewed near the roundabout.

“I think it’s going to be wonderful for drivers,” Angela Butcher said. “But I’m concerned about the high school kids, because high school kids don’t pay any attention to the rules. They think they’re immortal. And drivers just don’t pay any attention to pedestrians.”

Damian Orlowski said pedestrians and drivers mix well at roundabouts in Europe, where he used to live. But traffic circles aren’t as common here.

How well will this one work with student pedestrians? “We’ll see,” he said.

After:

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/611320--collision-prone-roundabout-to-be-made-safer

WATERLOO REGION — Regional councillors are poised to reduce the speed limit on Homer Watson Boulevard to 50 kilometres an hour to make a collision-plagued roundabout safer.

The move comes after a student was struck by a bus and another 26 vehicles were involved in minor collisions since the controversial roundabout at Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road opened in August.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/605461--st-mary-s-student-struck-by-bus-at-homer-watson-roundabout

A 16-year-old girl was struck Friday morning by a bus at a roundabout in Kitchener, just steps from her school.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/606120--friends-of-teen-hit-at-roundabout-fear-it-will-happen-again

It’s only been open a month, but the city’s largest and fastest roundabout — with a speed limit of 70 kilometres per hour — has already seen 20 reported collisions.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/611097--family-relieved-charges-to-be-laid-in-roundabout-collision

The 110-pound teen was launched in the air. She bounced before she landed 12.5 metres away.

-----------------------------

D: notably the cost of a pedestrian bridge would have been the same as the roundabout- about 2 mils.

But, hey, the car is king. Because we treat it like royalty.

dangerous crosswalk intersection

This is the intersection of Westmount and Father David Bauer/ Westcourt Place.

We've all nearly ended up on car hoods by car drivers engaged in rolling stops through a red.

It is always on the corner with the mall.

The broad ogive makes drivers think they can maintain speed on a turn.

They approach from Kitchener towards University. They pull a hard right onto FDB. They are unable to see past stopped cars to their left -and do so anyway.

I'm sure they'll express shocked disbelief about how a pedestrian 'appeared out of nowhere' when they hit somebody.

A sharper corner would discourage them.

On a related note, a month ago I was returning from the mall to Westcourt Place.

The walk sign was still 'go' when I started. There are 5 lanes to cross.

I was alarmed by the sound of honking right beside me. A car had tried to pull left off of FDB onto Westmount. After 5 lanes the walk sign had expired. This happens to the old people who live in area even when they promptly begin to walk.

Anyway, I gestured to the walk sign.

The husband of the wife said I did not have the right of way. Sadly he refused to step out of the car. Nonetheless, I no longer cross on a 'stale green', or whatever the equivalent for a pedestrian cross walk is.

To the city designers - the same ones that made a foot-wide pseudo-bike lane on Westmount, a mere block from where a cyclist was killed in a proper one a year ago - take note.

When I talk about a particular corner, I am describing road features that exist in multiple locations in K-W. I assume any corner or intersection with the same features will exhibit the same deviance. When a pedestrian gets hit, I may very well suggest the fail was YOUR fault.

Maybe I'll write your boss in your department while citing studies indicating that road feature was dangerous - and you built it anyway.

I think we can safely assume that the city's road designers don't bus bike or walk to work.

nice G&M articles on unsafe driving

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/road-sage/for-certain-drivers-lanes-markings-are-for-other-people/article2190977/

I was hanging out yesterday with the (cross fingers) to-be local MPP.
He has a background as a municipal lawyer and was involved in planning.
So I finally had somebody to bounce ideas off of.
Long time to get here - but worth it.

My own addition to unsafe driving practices follows.

1) at stop light
2) multiple lanes each way - or wide enough that a car car sneak past for right hand turn
3) consistently, the car in the middle sits ON the line, not behind it
4) the result is the car trying to turn right cannot see pedestrians crossing towards his side
5) by creeping out far enough to see traffic, to know if a right hand turn is safe,
6) either risks hitting a walker, or at least obstructing the cross walk.

In the meantime, the ignorant driver in the middle, somehow stereotypically in a SUV to better block vision for somebody in *just* a car, sits there in unknowing bliss.
I think driver ed needs to be much more detailed and rigorous, complete with micromanagement.

Maybe offering to waive the fee to renew their car license in exchange for a 1 day 'refresher course' could work?
D.

Ontario election. Vote LIBERAL!

On the gasoline tax:

--------------------------------------------------------

NDP - http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1014428--less-pain-at-the-pumps-ontario-ndp-vows-to-cut-hst-on-gas

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath promises to siphon one percentage point off the 13 per cent HST on gasoline annually for four years if the party is elected on Oct. 6.

That would work out to a savings of a penny for every dollar you spend at the pumps during the first year, rising to just under a nickel by 2015.

“Every upward tick in gas prices is compounded by the HST,” Horwath said Friday at Exhibition Place as she kicked off the party's weekend pre-election convention.

The tax cut will cost a total of $500 million by the time it is fully phased in.

---------------------------------------------------------

PC - http://www.hstincanada.com/2011/07/hst-issue-causes-ripples-for-ontario-election/

Also getting on the HST election bandwagon are the provincial Tories. Conservative candidate Tim Hudak is vowing to not only reduce the HST burden placed on Ontario families but also the eco tax introduced by Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty. Hudak claims that only his government would truly relieve families with their plan to remove the HST and Debt Retirement Charge off of heating and energy bills as well as reduce income taxes which Hudak states only “add to the family burden.”

And while the competing parties address the HST issue at hand, Premier McGuinty has yet to offer voters any relief on the HST issue. In fact, McGuinty continues to maintain his stance stating that in order to meet the needs of the province by making reforms to the education and health care system, the HST will need to stay in place to generate revenues.

-------------------------------------

D - as I have said before - and analyzed in depth (see earlier blog entries), fossil fuels cost far more in terms of health care costs and erosion of the tax base than can be justified by their present tax level.
Hell, I think fossil fuel ought to be TWICE as expensive to incoroporate negative externalities in their price.
The user should pay.

So here we have an election where the 'left' and 'right' parties have virtually indistinguishable platforms.
There are vague murmerings about health care (old folks) and poverty (NDP - no details).

D - there are many ways to help the poor. The Liberal education grant certainly will do so, and is not available to the wealthy. It resets tuition rates for the working poor/middle class to where it was about a decade ago.

For that matter, both welfare and the minimum wage - as well as drug 'n dental coverage - can be used to help hard pressed Ontarian families.

There is a serious problem with subsidizing fossil fuel usage - gasoline in vehicles, and heating oil/natural gas and electricity in households.

Problem #1: at the same time fossil fuel tax cuts reduce tax revenue and thereby hamstrings fiscal policy (spending), it increases health care costs via pollution, as well as via vehicle accident rates and severity.

Problem #2: it makes a mockery of our commitment to CO2 reduction, removing any incentive to conserve. Canada made a commitment to the post-Kyoto Coperhagen round.

Problem #3: it actively backfires in a very basic economic model way. SUPPLY and DEMAND. If gas is cheap, we use more of it - and demand increases compared to supply. Conversely, a higher (HST) tax on gasoline (and home fuels) reduces demand as households turn down the thermostat, or drive slower, or upgrade insulation. In other words, the HST on gasoline and home energy is unlikely to cost nearly as much as static #s would suggest.

Problem #4: it removes the incentive for efficiency upgrades, either from renters (temporary measures such as plastic wrap over windows in winter), as well as more extensive ones for home owners (upgraded wall insulation, window insulation, et al.).

-----------------------

I personally rent a townhouse. It was clearly built pre-oil crisis. It has negligible insulation and loft ceilings in the upstair bedrooms. The furnace air is cool by the time it travels up the front wall. My room hovered at 13 Celsius for weeks on end during last winter's cold snap. We conserve as much as we can. There is no incentive for the landlord to upgrade this with installed attics or exterior wall insulation sheet cladding. A sufficiently high tax on home energy use would make renters consider utilities as well as the basic rent cost.

I drive to work in a small subcompact to the edge of a nearby town. I drive like a granny. These days, we call that hypermiling. Many drivers in large inefficient vehicles drive as if they are in the Indy 500.
I think it's safe to say gas prices are NOT that high.

Whenever there is a smog alert, I like to count the # of passengers in 4-5 person sedans (and bigger). There are rarely any passengers at all.

------

I calculated that the Convservatives estimate economic growth by 2015 about 1/2 percent above the Liberal projections. Conversely, the NDP lowballed GDP growth instead. BUT did not even bother to release a complete detailed budget projection. In other words,

1) The Conservatives 'cooked the books' with cheery economic forecasts to make their tax cuts look less absurd,

2) The NDP are just hiding the books - period.

I'm voting Liberal. In fact, for the first time post-University in my adult life, I'm getting involved.
Heck, I did not even vote for the last decade. There was never any platform worth getting involved in.
That is NOT true in this election.
I'm voting LIBERAL.

U of T, Ryerson try out no-car zones

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/downtown-universities-want-to-keep-pedestrian-space-indefinitely/article2136655/

Tables, chairs and huge planters have replaced traffic on roads running through both campuses. Now, with little more than a month left for the one-year closings, both schools are trying to hold on to the rare pedestrian space, indefinitely.

“It’s the main artery for the campus,” Ryerson’s vice-president of administration and finance Julia Hanigsberg said of the Gould Street closing. The U of T closing encompasses Wilcocks Street between Huron and St. George streets.

“In an urban campus like ours, there aren’t that many places you can just wander around and have that feeling of being in the middle of a university,” said Ms. Hanigsberg.

D - I went to Ottawa in the 90s. I recall how nice the no-car downtown was.

=====

Uptown Waterloo wants to meter and charge for on-main-street parking.

I saw a petition against it in a store.

Well, I am FOR it.

And so should the stores be.

Why?

Cuz it allows folks to easily find parking to shop.

As opposed to parking there for long periods.

Downtown Kitchener went through this a year ago.

They needed to deter folks who work downtown from occupying parking for shoppers all day.

Why should on street parking be free?

It amounts to an unfair, regressive subsidy for car owners.

Provincial NDP make bike platform

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-ndp-targets-big-polluters-in-election-push/article2126350/

She also says that if elected on Oct. 6, the NDP would invest $15 million a year on cycling infrastructure.

The party would also enact rules to make cars stay at least one metre away from cyclists.

Drivers would face fines if they didn't give cyclists the required space.

smog linked to reduced mental capacity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110705071735.htm

In the new study, mice were exposed to either filtered air or polluted air for six hours a day, five days a week for 10 months -- nearly half the lifespan of the mice.

The polluted air contained fine particulate matter, the kind of pollution created by cars, factories and natural dust. The fine particulates are tiny -- about 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or about 1/30th of the average width of a human hair. These particles can reach deep areas of the lungs and other organs of the body.

The concentration of particulate matter that the mice were exposed to was equivalent to what people may be exposed to in some polluted urban areas, according to the researchers.

After 10 months of exposure to the polluted or filtered air, the researchers performed a variety of behavioral tests on the animals.

In a learning and memory test, mice were placed in the middle of a brightly lit arena and given two minutes to find an escape hole leading to a dark box where they feel more comfortable. They were given five days of training to locate the escape hole, but the mice who breathed the polluted air took longer to learn where the escape hole was located. The mice exposed to polluted air also were less likely to remember where the escape hole was when tested later.

D - we have already had a coupla smog alert days locally.

Once again, it may be that air pollution is not cost effective to tolerate.

A general lowering of mental performance has an economic cost.

I reiterate that pollution - including CO2 - is an URBAN problem, forming a bubble around a city.

ottawa offers free parking if you bike rest of way

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/06/18/ottawa-park-cycle.html

The NCC plans to allow free access to 10 parking lots, where drivers can leave their cars and cycle the remaining distance to work. The Park and Cycle pilot will run from June 20 to October 28, 2011.

-----
D - anybody else notice how hard it is to get to Guelph?
My sis lives off the Hanlon.
I'm trying to bike there. But I *really* don't like roads without bike lanes or trails.

http://www.pr.uoguelph.ca/sustain/transportation/cycling.htm

D - I just cannot get Firefox to display PDFs. Never have been able to.
Explorer did it just fine.

Anyway, my sis is off the Hanlon midway through Guelph.
I'm trying to figure out how to avoid Victoria as much as possible - it is brutal.
Looking like Shantz on the way out of Kitchener.
This will also allow me to cycle to work near Cambridge's Toyota plant.

The lack of a coherent bike lane/trail from Kitchener to Guelph is just tragic.

public transit will make us thin, cars made us fat

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100628203756.htm

In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326134014.htm

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, finds that people who take public transit are three times more likely than those who don't to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's suggested daily minimum of physical activity.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110426122950.htm

Canadians have become heavier and less fit over the last three decades; people aged 20-39 years have the BMI (body mass index) that people aged 40 or older had thirty years ago. The 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey found more than 60% of adults were overweight or obese, with 24% being overweight, and 37% obese. If such a trend is to continue, over the next 25 years, half of Canadians over age 40 will be obese.

"Obesity is expected to surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality," writes author

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110511131138.htm

"You can think of obesity as an energy imbalance," Jacobson said. "People consume food, which is a form of energy, and then they expend it in their activities. But if you look over the last 60-plus years, the automobile has become our primary mode of transportation -- so much so, in fact, we have literally designed our way of life around it. It is that energy imbalance that ultimately may lead to obesity."

D - most people sleepwalk their way into obesity. It happens one double-double cream coffee at a time.
Take my roomie. He was 280lbs, now down to 250lbs.
We'd go to the bar for beer 'n burgers and fries.
We'd be walking out and he'd go ooohhh! Chocolate almonds - protein.
A champion bodybuilder doesn't need that much protein!
One snack after meal at a time.
Energy imbalance.

why teen drivers go splat so much

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419190032.htm

Scanning involves observing the surroundings far ahead of the vehicle and side-to-side, not just immediately in front of the hood. It is a higher-level skill that experienced drivers develop over time. The study authors note that developing effective ways to teach this skill sooner in the learning-to-drive process could reduce teen crash risk. Pilot tests of this type of training have shown promise in increasing hazard detection and response skills among novice drivers.

By getting very specific about the types of teen driver errors that are most likely to precede a crash, this study makes it possible to target policies, programs, driver education and other strategies to reduce those critical errors and prevent crashes from happening.

Among crashes with a teen driver error:

• Twenty-one percent occurred due to lack of scanning that is needed to detect and respond to hazards.
• Twenty-one percent occurred due to going too fast for road conditions, (for example, driving too fast to respond to others, or to successfully navigate a curve).
• Twenty percent occurred due to being distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle.

-------------------------
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100609083225.htm

D; and another reason to start high school student after the primary school kids.
Besides grades.

Results indicate that in 2008 the teen crash rate was about 41 percent higher in Virginia Beach, Va., where high school classes began at 7:20 a.m., than in adjacent Chesapeake, Va., where classes started more than an hour later at 8:40 a.m. There were 65.4 automobile crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Virginia Beach, and 46.2 crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Chesapeake.

"We were concerned that Virginia Beach teens might be sleep restricted due to their early rise times and that this could eventuate in an increased crash rate," said lead author Robert Vorona, MD, associate professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. "The study supported our hypothesis, but it is important to note that this is an association study and does not prove cause and effect."

speed linked to fuel mileage, accident survival

http://autos.aol.com/article/texas-speed-limit-gas-mileage/

Further evidence comes from a recent study that showed even a small reduction in speed can have a big impact on lives saved. In the report, published in the Transportation Research Record, author Rune Elvik found that a 1 percent decrease in travel speed reduces injury crashes by about 2 percent, serious injury crashes by about 3 percent and fatal crashes by about 4 percent. These reductions are critically needed, traffic safety experts say, as speeding remains a serious highway safety problem. Nearly 13,500 people died in speed-related crashes in 2006.

Drivers can assume that each 5 MPH they drive above 60 MPH, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association (GHSA), is like paying an additional 20 cents a gallon for gas. Additionally, aggressive highway behavior such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33% at highway speeds and 5% around town.

"But today, it's always hurry, hurry, hurry everywhere you go. Everybody's gotta be there yesterday, and if you do the legal speed limit of 55 or 60 MPH, people tailgate you or beep their horn. You can't obey the law even if you want to without getting grief on the highway."

vehicle pollution causes brain damage

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407092028.htm

If mice commuted, their brains might find it progressively harder to navigate the maze of Los Angeles freeways. A new study reveals that after short-term exposure to vehicle pollution, mice showed significant brain damage -- including signs associated with memory loss and Alzheimer's disease.

The authors found a way to recreate air laden with freeway particulate matter inside the laboratory. Whether in a test tube or in live mice, brain cells showed similar responses:

• Neurons involved in learning and memory showed significant damage,
• The brain showed signs of inflammation associated with premature aging and Alzheimer's disease,
• Neurons from developing mice did not grow as well.

The freeway particles measured between a few dozen to 200 nanometers -- roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and too small for car filtration systems to trap.

----------
D - maybe we will find that our transportation is an important contributor to old age dementia?

So does a sedan for every home still look 'cheap'?

Aside - I drive a subcompact car to work, and hope to start bicycling some soon.

I hypermile and drive like a granny - other than going 10kph over the speed limit.
LOL and better not go any slower or I'd cause road rage.
I ponder that the few bad 'indy 500' drivers pay less for gas than I do.
Otherwise, they'd just be plain foolish.

gas station air pollution linked to health problems

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130315.htm

The research study shows that a "minimum" distance of 50 metres should be maintained between petrol stations and housing, and 100 metres for "especially vulnerable" facilities such as hospitals, health centres, schools and old people's homes. "Ideally, the 100 metre distance should be respected in plans for building new houses," says Doval.

The researchers propose carrying out this study at new construction areas in which it is planned to build these kinds of facilities. However, petrol stations are not the only source of emission of these pollutants.

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D - I was arguing with the a friend's friend on FB recently
He dismissed incidental costs to society of use of products.
If it is not embedded into a standard product price, then apparently it is a fairy tale.
And since the 'cradle to grave' cost of product cannot be precisely measured, then approximating it is spurious.
I pointed out that standard taxing is totally arbitrary, and a 'sin tax' like I proposed would much closer to an accurate assessment of using a product.
With 100 buck barrels of oil upon us again, folks will begin to agitate for lower fuel taxes again.
I say DOUBLE it. That still does not reflect the cost in urban areas of fuel use.

With public health care, the fiscal budget picks up the tab for anything we do not sensibly deter at the taxation level instead. In other words, we pay indirectly via hiked taxes or increased debt anyway!
Without public health care, the economy still absorbs the costs by loss of productivity. Money spent on health care is money not spent elsewhere.
Perhaps a spartan rather than thriving health care sector for preventable (and delayable) conditions is more desirable?

stress of road noise causes strokes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1350595/Traffic-noise-raise-risk-stroke.html

Researchers say there is a low risk to young people, but road noise could account for one in five strokes among pensioners.

The first study to investigate the link found that for every ten decibels more noise, the risk of a stroke increased by 14 per cent. The risk increased by 27 per cent for those aged 65 and over.

When the noise gets above 60dB, the risk of stroke goes higher still, according to a report in the European Heart Journal.

The Danish study investigated 51,485 volunteers aged between 50 and 64 for around ten years. A total of 1,881 had a stroke.

The participants were estimated to be exposed to noise levels between 40dB and 82dB.

In a major city, typical noise levels can average 50-55dB compared with 60-70 for residents living near an airport.

Researcher Dr Mette Sørensen said the strokes were probably caused by noise disturbing sleep, which in turn raised stress hormones and blood pressure.

D - I've read the building code and considered house design.

Builders rarely consider noise volume in a house.

Those ICF, particularly with aerogel windows, would be silent.