The Smoke of Friday’s Headlines Gets in Your Eyes
Like cigarettes, big trucks and SUVs kill innocent people. So why not regulate them like cigarettes?
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EST on January 10, 2025
- Smoking was severely restricted starting in the 1990s once it became clear that the habit could kill not only the smoker, but anyone inhaling secondhand smoke. David Zipper writes that we should be treating giant trucks and SUVs the same way, because they’re deadly to everyone around them. (Vox)
- How is the U.S. going to deal with coastal communities displaced by climate change? (New York Times)
- Signal priority saves thousands of hours of time for buses and emergency vehicles. (Government Technology)
- States like Minnesota and Colorado are pointing the way forward for curbing road-building, even if drivers don’t always buy into the concept of induced demand. (CityLab)
- California’s ambitious new rail plan would take 200 million cars off the highway, but cost $310 billion to build. (Streetsblog CAL)
- A judge will decide by Feb. 1 whether Nashville’s voter-approved $3.1 billion transit plan and accompanying sales tax hike can take effect. (Tennessean)
- Denver rezoned more than 1,000 acres along commercial corridors for more pedestrian-friendly development, such as banning drive-throughs. (Denverite)
- Traffic deaths in Charlotte have jumped from 60 in 2022 to 70 in 2023 to 85 last year. (Queen City Nerve)
- The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is planning bus rapid transit along I-285, Atlanta’s ring road. (Appen Media)
- Chicago set a record last year with 11 million trips on shared bikes and e-scooters. (CBS News)
- West Hartford is installing cameras to catch speeding drivers and red-light runners. (CT Insider)
- This bicycle hearse in Paris gives the phrase “ride or die” a whole new meaning. (Momentum)
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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