Did you know, Car Culture, is bad?
OPAD #25 – Feb 27, 2024
I’m taking my 8th(?) Amtrak trip in a couple of weeks, and I can’t get over how much easier and more relaxing it is vs. driving or flying. Check out the map below and if you have any upcoming trips, consider the train!
https://www.amtrak.com/home.html
Click image or link below for larger map.
We here at blob blob love train, bus, tram, streetcar, bike, a nice lil’ walk while hopefully not getting run over by a 4 ton personal vehicle. Find accounts on Bluesky that share the same love: safe, humancentric transportation and environments. Have we missed anyone? Please messag me here: https://bsky.app/profile/bblloobb.com
See our Transportation and Urban Design accounts to follow on other social networks:
https://www.bblloobb.com/2023/transportation-and-urban-design-accounts-to-follow/
Find other accounts to follow on Bluesky:
https://www.bblloobb.com/2023/who-to-follow-on-bluesky/
[News/Journalism] Streetsblog USA – https://bsky.app/profile/streetsblogusa.bsky.social
[Podcast] The War On Cars – https://bsky.app/profile/thewaroncars.bsky.social
[Podcast Host] Doug Gordon – https://bsky.app/profile/brooklynspoke.bsky.social
[Youtube/Cities] Active Towns (John Simmerman) – https://bsky.app/profile/activetowns.bsky.social
[Youtube/NYC] Urban Caffeine – https://bsky.app/profile/urbancaffeine.bsky.social
[🚲] A Bike Rider – https://bsky.app/profile/bicycle.bsky.social
[Transit Guy] Hayden Clarkin – https://bsky.app/profile/thetransitguy.bsky.social
[Activism/NYC] Transportation Alternatives – https://bsky.app/profile/transalt.org
[Dutch] American Fietser – https://bsky.app/profile/americanfietser.com
[Activist/Historian] Segregation By Design – https://bsky.app/profile/segbydesign.bsky.social
You should also follow these to Feeds:
Urbanisim+: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lptjvw6ut224kwrj7ub3sqbe/feed/aaaotfjzjplna
Urbanisim+ News: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lptjvw6ut224kwrj7ub3sqbe/feed/aaapugyzmggrw
Both created by: https://bsky.app/profile/fema.bsky.social
[Jouranlist] Paris Marx, Tech Won’t Save Us Podcast – https://bsky.app/profile/parismarx.bsky.social
[Writer] Jamelle Bouie, New York Times – https://bsky.app/profile/jbouie.bsky.social
[Climate Scientist] Zach Labe – https://bsky.app/profile/zlabe.bsky.social
[Architecture Critic] Kate Wagner, McMansion Hell – https://bsky.app/profile/katewagner.bsky.social
A question a lot of people will say “Yes” to, but are they right?
Let’s take a look at some of the decisions of Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, Neuralink, Boring Company, and Tesla.
October 1st:
This is a really good article on the many lies of Elon Musk, and how those lies are ignored, not investigated, or just straight up believed by the Tech Media, including Walter Isaacson. Go into the article to see sourcing and proof for the bold list below.
“One of the things that anyone covering Elon Musk for long enough has to reckon with is that he loves to tell hilarious lies. For instance:
- “Funding secured.”
- Tesla share sales.
- Tesla and Bitcoin.
- The staged 2016 Autopilot demo video.
- The batteries in Teslas will be exchangeable.
- The time he said Teslas might fly. “
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/1/23895069/walter-isaacson-biography-musk-review
September 29th:
Is questioning a country saving the lives of humans something a dumb person does? I don’t think so!!!
September 8th:
“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it clear multiple times over the years that paid advertisements must be clearly marked as such so as to not mislead consumers to believe they are viewing organic or editorial content. In 2013, for example, the FTC sent a warni to dozens of search engine providers regarding how ads weren’t being clearly disclosed on these online platforms. The FTC stated that companies should put text-based labels on each ad.”
https://mashable.com/article/twitter-x-removes-ad-labels-for-some-users
September 7th:
“Musk in 2022 secretly ordered his engineers to turn off Starlink’s connectivity along the Crimean coast in order to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s naval fleet, according to an excerpt of Walter Isaacson’s long-anticipated Elon Musk obtained by CNN. Musk made the decision out of a fear that the attack would lead Russia to retaliate with nuclear weapons, according to Isaacson.
The Ukrainian subs rigged to blow up the Russian ships “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly” after Musk disconnected their service, Isaacson writes.”
August 30th:
“Twitter, now known as X, is currently facing 2,200 arbitration cases from former employees looking to get their deserved benefits. The number of arbitration cases was first highlighted by CNBC as a result of a new filing in a lawsuit against Twitter from one of its former employees looking to get their promised severance. “
https://mashable.com/article/x-twitter-elon-musk-severance-arbitration-fees
August 1st:
“These attempts to silence his critics are not surprising to anyone who’s followed Musk’s erratic behavior. The magnate positions himself as a champion of free and open debate while taking extraordinary efforts to silence any honest criticism and independent research that might negatively impact Musk and his many businesses.”
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/elon-musk-free-speech
Have you seen vehicles out on the roads these days? Pretty big, huh?
“In 2009, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans accounted for 47% of all U.S. new vehicle sales, according to Motorintelligence.com. Last year[2022], light trucks were more than three-quarters of new vehicle sales.“
Worse fuel economy, and also more dangerous for everyone! Especially pedestrians. Cool. Keep it up, the Big 3.
“The research released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety points to the increasing popularity of larger vehicles as a possible factor in rising pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads, which are up 59% since 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.”
The North Carolina statistics showed that pickups were 42% more likely than cars to hit pedestrians while making left turns. SUVs were 23% more likely to hit people than cars. There was no significant difference in the odds of a right turn crash for the different types of vehicles, the study showed.
Outside of intersections, pickups were 80% more likely than cars to hit a pedestrian along the road. SUVs were 61% more likely, and minivans were 45% more likely to hit people than cars, IIHS said.
This is in part to the hood heights growing and thus visability in front of trucks. Which are so unsafe, they come with cameras setup so the driver can see the car in front of them at an intersection!
“The magazine and website found that pickup truck hood heights have risen 11% since 2000. The hood of a 2017 Ford F-250 heavy-duty pickup was 55 inches off the ground, as tall as the roofs of some cars, Stockburger said.”
SUVs, pickup trucks more likely to hit pedestrians than cars, study finds, by Tom Krisher https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/03/17/suvs-pickups-pedestrian-fatalities-rise/7075333001/
If you’re a subscriber to the blob newsletters, you know we at blob blob care a lot about the built environment we live in, and how we interact with that environment. Urban design, transportation, architecture and more.
Below is a list from a variety of networks where you can follow fun and informative accounts related to transportation and urban design.
A work in progress, last updated March 2023
Any suggestions?
email blobblobnews gmail.
City Nerd, @nerd4cities: https://www.instagram.com/nerd4cities
Car Free America, @car_free_america: https://www.instagram.com/car_free_america
Segregation by Design, @segregation_by_design: https://www.instagram.com/segregation_by_design
The War On Cars Podcast, @thewaroncars: https://www.instagram.com/thewaroncars
Cars Succ, @cars.succ: https://www.instagram.com/cars.succ
Cars Destoryed Our Cities, @cars.destroyed.our.cities: https://www.instagram.com/cars.destroyed.our.cities
Climate Town, @climatetown: https://www.instagram.com/climatetown
Not Just Bikes: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes
City Beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/@CityBeautiful
City Nerd: https://www.youtube.com/@CityNerd
Climate Town: https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateTown
Strong Towns: https://www.youtube.com/@strongtowns/videos
Active Towns: https://www.youtube.com/@ActiveTowns
Bicycle Dutch: https://www.youtube.com/@BicycleDutch
Alan Fisher: https://www.youtube.com/@alanthefisher
Oh The Urbanity!: https://www.youtube.com/@OhTheUrbanity
RM Transit: https://www.youtube.com/@RMTransit
Not Just Bikes: https://bsky.app/profile/notjustbikes.com
Segregation By Design: https://bsky.app/profile/segbydesign.bsky.social
Active Towns: https://bsky.app/profile/activetowns.bsky.social
Paris Marx, Tech Won’t Save Us Podcast: https://bsky.app/profile/parismarx.bsky.social
Urban Caffeine: https://bsky.app/profile/urbancaffeine.bsky.social
Find more here:
https://www.bblloobb.com/2023/who-to-follow-on-bluesky/
Not Just Bikes: https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes
Nerd 4 Cities: https://mstdn.social/@nerd4cities
Doug Gordon: https://mastodon.social/@BrooklynSpoke
Human Transit, Jarrett Walker: https://mastodon.online/@humantransit
Transit Maps: https://mastodon.world/@transitmap
Want to help fill out this section? Please email blobblobnews gmail.
Coming soon.
The War On Cars: https://thewaroncars.org | https://www.instagram.com/thewaroncars | https://thewaroncars.org
Turns out electric vehicles can catch on fire. Apparently at rates lower than ICE vehicles, but much harder to actually put out. So who is to say which is better? Not Me.
But how much water does it take to put out an EV fire? Let’s take a look directly from an EV manufacturer, and some first hand accounts from Tesla fires.
“It can take between approximately 3,000-8,000 gallons (11,356-30,283 liters) of water, applied directly to the battery, to fully extinguish and cool down a battery fire; always establish or request additional water supply early. If water is not immediately available, use CO2, dry chemicals, or another typical fire-extinguishing agent to fight the fire until water is available.”
Tesla, https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/2021_Model_S_Emergency_Response_Guide_en.pdf
“Crews worked for over an hour and utilized approximately 6,000 gallons of water from 3 fire engines and a water tender for full extinguishment as recommended in the Tesla emergency procedures manual.”
Sacramento Metro Fire District, https://www.facebook.com/MetroFireOfSacramento/posts/pfbid02NKEuAHr8Td6vDWNXZfX7yHGE7bNZLVuLcu795tvqdqGg2YgSYsyqjsJBVGdMjkVsl
“Additional tankers were called from three other fire departments and a total of 12,000 gallons (45,425 liters) of water were required to put out the fire. That’s considerably more than a normal car fire, which can take as little as 500 gallons (1,893 liters) to put out, according to the fire department.”
“An electric car crashed on a highway in Wakefield Thursday, bursting into flames that took more than two hours and 20,000 gallons of water to extinguish, police said.”
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become extremely commonplace in the last decade. What is considered an ADAS? And how many new vehicles made include at least one?
An estimated 90 percent of new vehicles sold today come equipped with some form of advanced driver assistance system, like automatic emergency braking, lane-centering, or Tesla’s erroneously named Full Self Driving.
-Report: State and Federal Officials Are Asleep at the Wheel on AV Safety, By Kea Wilson, Streetsblog, https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/12/06/report-state-and-federal-officials-are-asleep-at-the-wheel-on-av-safety/
Cars have gotten larger and heavier over the last four decades (See Page 25 of this PDF from EPA, or image below). And the slow but inevitable shift to electric cars, will only make it worse. It turns out the amount of batteries needed to give large vehicles a long range is very heavy!
So how much do cars currently weigh, and how do their electric counter parts weigh? Find answers from this article on Curbed.
“The average vehicle weight is now a record-breaking 4,289 pounds, according to EPA data. Larger vehicles are being blamed for skyrocketing traffic deaths, and part of the reason EV batteries are so big is because automakers are building them as if they have gas tanks to go 300 miles per charge.”
“GM’s American-made electric Hummer is nearly three tons [6,600 pounds] thanks to its gigantic battery, which is itself the weight of one Honda Civic. Even the country’s most popular vehicle, the F-150, also has an electric version that’s one-third heavier than its gas-powered counterpart.”
–By Alissa Walker, An EV in Every Driveway Is an Environmental Disaster, Curbed, https://www.curbed.com/2023/01/electric-vehicles-biden-batteries-lithium-mining.html
Source image:
Is cruelty the point? Can this all be blamed on sheer incompetence? General indifference? Selfishness? Here at the Fair and Balanced™ www.bblloobb.com, you decide!
boo.
“With a few notable exceptions—such as during the 1918 influenza pandemic, World War II and the HIV crisis—life expectancy in the U.S. has had gradual upward trajectory over the past century. But that progress has steeply reversed in the past two years as COVID and other tragedies have cut millions of lives short.”
“COVID deaths drove much of the decline as the country grappled with the world’s worst pandemic in a century. But unintentional injuries—largely driven by drug overdoses—also played a significant role, the data show. Increases in deaths from heart disease, chronic liver disease and suicide also contributed.”
The U.S. Just Lost 26 Years’ Worth of Progress on Life Expectancy, Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-s-just-lost-26-years-worth-of-progress-on-life-expectancy/
Saltwater is moving up the Mississippi River., NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1131452623/saltwater-mississippi-river-drought-gulf-of-mexico
A remarkable and swift decline in soil moisture in the Mississippi River valley. Map by @KarklisCarto using @NASA_SPoRT data: pic.twitter.com/RDVJCgIcGf
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) October 26, 2022
Ian is 15th billion-dollar disaster this year so far, NOAA, https://www.noaa.gov/news/ian-is-15th-billion-dollar-disaster-year-so-far
Climate crisis: UN finds ‘no credible pathway to 1.5C in place’, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/climate-crisis-un-pathway-1-5-c
A rant about lawns in America, Volts, https://www.volts.wtf/p/a-rant-about-lawns-in-america
“And I’ll give you one example, which we can come back to. This idea of replacement theory – you’ve probably heard about it. And even if you’re not paying much attention to cable news, you’ll probably recall that last spring he got in some hot water for saying, yeah, the elites in this country are trying to replace Americans with obedient people from what he called the Third World.
Now, that is a direct borrowing of language and concept from white nationalists and not just conservatives. I’m talking about people who are neo-Nazis, open nativists, white nationalists, people who get together in dark corners of the internet, mostly, and propound theories about how a cabal of elites – sometimes Jews, sometimes broader – are trying to replace Americans. Now, that theme hadn’t just popped up on the show last April. A version of it has been present in 400-plus episodes of the show.”
Has Tucker Carlson created the most racist show in the history of cable news?, NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/05/12/1098488908/has-tucker-carlson-created-the-most-racist-show-in-the-history-of-cable-news
Carlson is not directing his audience to commit murder. But he is spreading an ideology that lends itself naturally to murderous tendencies and has accordingly spawned a violent wing. White nationalists see Carlson as their champion, and so too does the vast majority of the conservative movement. Carlson, like Trump, serves as a bridge between the Republican Party and a movement once seen as too extreme and marginal for the party to touch. The defenses of Carlson will ensure that the power of white nationalism continues to grow, along with its body count.
Yes, Tucker Carlson Shares Blame for the Buffalo Supermarket Attack: The white nationalist’s conservative allies mount an unconvincing defense., Intelligencer, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/05/tucker-carlson-buffalo-supermarket-attack-great-replacement-white-nationalism.html
There is absolutely zero justice in housing in America. But, hey, at least the dividends on the REITs that rich people have stock in keep increasing each quarter.
“In one neighborhood in Seattle, ProPublica found, 70% of apartments were overseen by just 10 property managers, every single one of which used pricing software sold by RealPage.
For tenants, the system upends the practice of negotiating with apartment building staff. RealPage discourages bargaining with renters and has even recommended that landlords in some cases accept a lower occupancy rate in order to raise rents and make more money.
One of the algorithm’s developers told ProPublica that leasing agents had “too much empathy” compared to computer generated pricing.“
How a Secret Rent Algorithm Pushes Rents Higher, ProPublic, https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent
Does that make sense? I don’t think that makes sense. Oh well. Watch the video to learn about Parking Minimums and why your city is just a sea of soul-destroying parking lots.
See the Parking Situation in an American city with a population of half a million.
As the downtown loop in Kansas City turns 50 this year, let's not forget how it turned a vibrant neighborhood into a parking lot. Yellow shows surface parking lots, while green are garages. pic.twitter.com/zK4rLaHIjr
— Hayden (@the_transit_guy) October 27, 2022
Something to be truly scared about. boo.
A story in 3 acts:
— Crosswalk Collective LA (@CrosswalksLA) October 19, 2022
– Apr 3rd community request: "we desperately need a crosswalk painted here"
– Sept 30th: CCLA paints two crosswalks
– Oct 18th: LADOT removes both crosswalks
We will not be deterred and will continue painting. If the city doesn't keep us safe, we keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/h2Rwlt3WcM
The end.
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“Those memories run deep, even as my family and I have drifted further apart in the age of Trump. We don’t have many meals together anymore, and when we do, Nanny always unironically lobbies for Cracker Barrel. I still love to read, though, and still love pizza. By now, I’ve spent time in Italy and lived in Brooklyn for nearly a decade, but I still consider those little pucks of slightly-burnt mozzarella and tangy sauce the best pizza I’ve ever had. Nostalgia makes everything taste better.“
Food and Wine, Scamming Pizza Hut Was My Family Tradition, https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/scamming-pizza-hut
Kim Kelly also has a new book out!
Fight Like Hell The Untold History of American Labor
blob does not condone the scamming of companies unless they have a yearly net profit of $1 BILLION or more, and/or have notoriously treated their employees like trash.
As bike infrastructure continues to lag behind its want AND need, you may see more references to “Bike Buses”. You can read more on Wikipedia but essentially is a community of bike riders riding on a set trail and time-table giving them the power of increased safety in numbers.
Look at this one from Alameda, CA where nearly a third of the students biked to school in a Bike Bus!
This is your weekly reminder that a radical transformation to student transportation is coming. Alameda Elementary #BikeBus passed 30% student participation!!! (Volume up) pic.twitter.com/k2EPaAQs3q
— Sam Balto (@CoachBalto) September 14, 2022
And in Chicago the biking community is using it as an opportunity to demand more and safer bike infrastructure.
On Wednesday morning @bikegridnow will be leading Bike Bus rides on Milwaukee Ave. AND Halsted St., ending at the AM rally at CTA headquarters.
— Streetsblog Chicago (@streetsblogchi) September 12, 2022
That evening they'll be doing a Bike Jam ride in the 30th Ward.https://t.co/VxSUq3oaGN
“Sorrenti was the latest victim of a vicious ongoing harassment campaign driven by K*wi F*rms, an online community known for stalking, swatting, harassing, doxing, and intimidating everyone from Gamergate targets to far-right congressmember Marjorie Taylor Greene. Its users are known to single out transgender and neurodivergent people in particular. The site is connected to the suicides of at least three people who were targets of sustained harassment. Users’ tactics are exhaustive. For the past decade, K*wi F*rms has operated with impunity—until now.“
Wired, The End of K*wi F*rms, the Web’s Most Notorious Stalker Site, https://www.wired.com/story/keffals-kiwifarms-cloudflare-blocked-clara-sorrenti/
And more questions like: are they cost efficient? will me buying one save the world? and so on.
“They’re the cheapest and most efficient way to handle both heating and cooling for your home, no matter where you live. They’re also better for the environment. In fact, most experts agree they’re one of the best ways for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and reap the benefits of a greener future without sacrificing comfort. In other words, they’re a win-win.”
The New York Times, A Heat Pump Might Be Right for Your Home. Here’s Everything to Know. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/heat-pump-buying-guide/
“Depending on the angle and composition of the images, “free dirt” posts on Craigslist can look like unintentional landscape vistas. Some shots feature calloused hands covered in tawny fill dirt, vignetted by palm trees and paved driveways in postwar cul-de-sacs. There are endless frames of earth spilling onto asphalt, flattened mounds of rich brown soil indented with tire tracks, craggy piles of dirt gathered evenly along the perimeters of blue tarp in driveways.”
The Paris Review, Free Dirt https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/09/08/free-dirt/
“For people who have spent decades centering their lives around vehicle ownership, it may be impossible to imagine our country without car-dependent mobility. But those of us who are nondrivers are already working towards a different future. A future where you don’t need to worry that your car payment eats one-third of your paycheck, where you can let your kids walk to school on their own because there are sidewalks the whole way, where the light rail station is surrounded by affordable apartments rather than parking garages. A future where you could get from one rural community to the next because we run rural bus routes or rebuild our rail network, where you can still get to all our national parks even if you don’t have a car.”
The Stranger, Nondrivers Are the Future https://www.thestranger.com/guest-editorial/2022/09/12/78455821/nondrivers-are-the-future
Until next time, keep on rocking.
Cars can quite fast! Sometimes up to and above 200mph. On streets you live, walk, bike, drive on yourself. The older I get the more insane it this is not physically limited by government and car companies. And not only that, but one of the “selling points” companies are using for selling Electric Vehicles is how fast they are!! Oh they are also keep getting bigger each year. fun!
“Now that said, these ISA systems still have a hard limit on how fast the vehicle can go, period,” he added. “So that might be set at, say, 90 miles an hour; under no circumstances can you exceed that level. And that, to me, makes a whole lot of sense. We live in a country where the highest speed limit anywhere is 85 miles an hour, and that’s just for one particular stretch of highway in Texas; everywhere else is lower than that. So I continue to be baffled about why so many cars can physically go up to 155 miles per hour.”
Let’s just be really clear: we have a status quo right now where over 10,000 Americans are dying per year because of speed-related crashes,” he said. “So it’s not like we’re starting from a point where we aren’t already facing horrible losses of life and destruction … Every idea that’s put forth about how we can address this problem, whether it’s a speed limiter, or whether it’s a road diet, you’ve got somebody dreaming up some scenario where they say, ‘Well, what if it makes it unsafe in X,Y, or Z scenario that might come up once in every 30 years?’ Frankly, we [just can’t afford to] paralyze ourselves with that kind of debate.”
-via Streets Blog USA
Welcome to the first The Dystopia Is Already Here newsletter!
Things are pretty bad, huh?
These will be going out once per month, switching off with the Better Is Possible newsletter. Subscribe below or find out more about them both here: https://www.bblloobb.com/blob-newsletters/
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“The Colorado River is dying. The water source for 40 million people across seven states and part of Mexico is rapidly drying out, leaving the two biggest reservoirs in the U.S. thirstier and thirstier, and offering up what may be the first climate change impact that the country literally cannot ignore.”
The Colorado River drought is the first climate disaster the U.S. legally has to deal with, Grid, https://www.grid.news/story/climate/2022/07/25/the-colorado-river-drought-is-the-first-climate-disaster-the-us-legally-has-to-deal-with/
“The images, which cover the years 2000, 2021 and 2022, show once-full tributaries transformed into dry crevasses. The lake, which supplies water to roughly 25 million people across the American west, is currently at its lowest levels since it was filled in 1937. As of 18 July, it stands at just 27% of its capacity.”
Nasa images show extreme withering of Lake Mead over 22 years, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/21/nasa-images-lake-mead-drought
And this is just from NYC!
“They’re steamed that the company has invested in new automation technology, drones, surveillance cameras and tracking devices — but not its employees’ comfort. One worker told THE CITY a supervisor reprimanded him for taking a 47-second pause for a sip of water — because it was stealing company time.”
UPS Drivers Demand AC in Trucks Following Heat Wave: ‘It’s Like Walking Into Hell’, The City (NYC), https://www.thecity.nyc/work/2022/7/27/23281777/ups-drivers-trucks-heat-wave-hell
“Traffic fatalities in the U.S. are at a 16-year high. One reason? Driver distraction. Today’s automobiles are loaded with an almost cinematic level of screens, featuring apps and infotainment systems that blur the distinction between car and smartphone… and that overload the brain’s cognitive abilities to a level not even trained military pilots can handle. Russ Mitchell, a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, joins us to discuss his recent story on the deadly consquences of carmakers’ and tech companies’ race to turn the inside of automobiles into what one researcher called “a candy store of distraction.” Plus, why you should never talk on the phone — even hands free — when you’re behind the wheel of a car.”
Distracted to Death, The War On Cars, https://thewaroncars.org/2022/07/18/distracted-to-death/
“Beyond astronomical executive compensation and a growing pay disparity, corporate profits are at 70-year record highs and stock buybacks are continuing to enrich an already comfortable investor class. In 2021, there was a record level of stock buybacks—$881.7 billion—which was a nearly 70% increase from 2020.”
75% Of Middle Class Households Say Their Wages Aren’t Keeping Up With Inflation, I Hate It Here And Never Want To Leave https://neverleave.substack.com/p/75-of-middle-class-households-say
Who we’re following: Peter Kalmus, a climate scientists who endlessly is sounding the alarm which is largely landing on deaf ears.
https://twitter.com/ClimateHuman
Photo editors JUST STOP illustrating record-shattering global heating stories with ice cream cones, sunbathers, and beachgoers. Deadly heat from fossil fuel GHG accumulation has the potential to kill and uproot billions in the near future. Why is this hard
— Peter Kalmus (@ClimateHuman) July 24, 2022
“Jeanie Cannell, her husband and his daughter have lived at the Kennebunk travel plaza on the Maine Turnpike for three months, unable to find affordable housing, even though two of them work full-time.”
‘Nobody would choose this’: A turnpike rest area and a van become home for one Maine family, Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com/2022/07/24/nobody-would-choose-this-a-turnpike-rest-area-and-a-van-become-home-for-one-maine-family/
I’d be honored to be absolutely obliterated crossing the street by a 9,000 pound Hummer accelerating incredibly fast to 60mph in a residential area. 🙂
“Numerous EVs, including the 9,000-pound GMC Hummer EV, already crack the three-ton mark.”
-Curbed, by David Zipper https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/a-new-way-to-curb-the-rise-of-oversized-pickups-and-suvs
The Atlantic recently published this great piece about cars and their inherent pitfalls. It also happened to answer a lot of questions you may have about cars and their costs. $$$, human, and otherwise.
More than 80 cents of every dollar spent on gasoline is squandered by the inherent inefficiencies of the modern internal combustion engine. No part of daily life wastes more energy and, by extension, more money than the modern automobile. While burning through all that fuel, cars and trucks spew toxins and particulate waste into the atmosphere that induce cancer, lung disease, and asthma. These emissions measurably decrease longevity—not by a matter of days, but years. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculates that 53,000 Americans die prematurely every year from vehicle pollution, losing 10 years of life on average compared to their lifespans in the absence of tailpipe emissions.
As an investment, the car is a massive waste of opportunity—“the world’s most underutilized asset,” the investment firm Morgan Stanley calls it. That’s because the average car sits idle 92 percent of the time. Accounting for all costs, from fuel to insurance to depreciation, the average car owner in the U.S. pays $12,544 a year for a car that puts in a mere 14-hour workweek. Drive an SUV? Tack on another $1,908.14
The death toll on America’s streets and highways during that same period since 9/11 was more than 400,000 men, women, and children. The traffic death toll in 2015 exceeded 3,000 a month. When it comes to the number of people who die in car wrecks, America experiences the equivalent of four airliner crashes every week.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 1 and 39. They rank in the top five killers for Americans 65 and under (behind cancer, heart disease, accidental poisoning, and suicide). And the direct economic costs alone—the medical bills and emergency-response costs reflected in taxes and insurance payments—represent a tax of $784 on every man, woman, and child living in the U.S.
The Atlantic, by Edward Humes, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/absurd-primacy-of-the-car-in-american-life/476346/