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A pollution solution where the rubber meets the road

Lindsey McGinnis

November 09, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

The Tyre Collective, a project by four recent graduate students in London, is seeking to capture vehicle tire pollution, the microplastics that go into the air from the friction of tires. They have been developing a device that attaches to the bottom of a car and uses electrostatic charges and airflow to collect up to 60 percent of tire particles as the car is driven. To reduce the amount of tire pollution, tire companies are seeking to balance safety requirements, tire durability, and making them out of more sustainable materials.

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Decades of Data Suggest Racial Profiling is Getting Worse, Not Better

Mike Sherry Mary Sanchez

October 28, 2020 |

Flatland |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Missouri

In 2000, Missouri passed one of the nation's first and most comprehensive laws aimed at ending racial profiling by police in traffic stops. But racial disparities have grown worse since then, with Black drivers far more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched. The law relies on data collection to air the problem, which in turn was supposed to spur more reforms. But the state's lackluster efforts to enforce the law and lack of follow through on other reforms has turned the annual data gathering into "little more than exercises in futility."

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Polish Drivers Beware: Road Work Ahead

Kacper Sulowski

September 22, 2020 |

Gazeta Wyborcza |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Lithuania

A series of methodically planned and publicized measures to improve traffic safety have significantly lowered Lithuania's highway fatalities in what is now serving as a model for safety advocates in neighboring Poland. Starting nearly a decade ago, after traffic deaths peaked, Lithuania began increasing penalties for violations, toughening enforcement, and improving roadways. Each phase was accompanied by public education. More lenient laws and enforcement are blamed for Poland's relatively high traffic-death rate.

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They Stopped Suspending Licenses ... And Fine Collections Went Up

Bonita Gooch

July 27, 2020 |

The Community Voice |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

When San Francisco courts stopped suspending drivers' licenses for failure to pay fees and fines, revenues actually increased. The reform, aimed at avoiding trapping poor people in endless cycles of debt and incarceration, was paired with affordable payment plans and alternatives to cash fines and fees as ways to hold people accountable for traffic violations. The rest of California, and eventually six other states and the District of Columbia, followed suit. The reforms have countered a trend that turned a traffic safety measure into a revenue generator for governments, on the backs of the poor.

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Śmierć na polskich drogach. Jesteśmy w europejskiej czołówce pod względem liczby ofiar, Litwa dała radę

Kacper Sulowski

July 25, 2020 |

Gazeta Wyborcza |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Lithuania

Liczba śmiertelnych wypadków drogowych na Litwie spadła w wyniku szeregu systematycznych i szeroko upublicznionych rozwiązań mających na celu poprawę bezpieczeństwa ruchu drogowego. Gdy prawie dekadę temu na Litwie nastąpił bezprecedensowy wzrost śmiertelności w wypadkach drogowych, zaczęto tam podwyższać kary za wykroczenia, wzmacniać egzekwowanie prawa oraz poprawiać stan dróg. Każdemu etapowi towarzyszyła kampania edukacji publicznej. Uważa się, że za stosunkowo wysoki wskaźnik śmiertelności na drogach w Polsce odpowiadają zbyt łagodne przepisy oraz zbyt liberalne ich egzekwowanie.

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She Ran Over and Killed 2 Children. Should She Have Had a Car?

Christina Goldbaum

February 10, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City's traffic safety campaign Vision Zero has made heavy use of cameras to enforce speeding and red-law laws, with an 85% drop in severe injuries at the 150 intersections with red-light cameras. But, after an increase in 2019 in traffic deaths, and armed with a study showing how vehicles with multiple camera-related violations were far more likely to be involved in injury accidents, the city has decided it needs a more effective accountability mechanism than fines; namely, seizing the cars of repeat violators who refuse to take a traffic-safety course.

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What Happens When a City Tries to End Traffic Deaths

Laura Bliss

November 21, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

An extensive investigation that, despite implementing an initiative called "Vision Zero" that aims to eliminate traffic and pedestrian fatalities, many cities still struggle to reduce the number of fatalities, year-over-year. Now, cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are analyzing their failures - from lack of budget planning to missing coordination between government departments - in order to get on track to eliminating traffic deaths within a decade.

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Are D.C.'s Streets Finally Getting Safer?

Andrew Small

November 11, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

As the District lagged on its Vision Zero goals, bike and pedestrian advocates in Washington turned traffic fatalities into a rallying cry, and got results.

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A Little Paint Can Change a Community's Relationship to Its Streets

Andrew Small

October 29, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City's Asphalt Art Initiative - created by Bloomberg Philanthropies - addresses pedestrian and traffic safety by taking to the streets and creating visual traffic flows with just a can of paint. Simple designs create more space for pedestrians and signal to drivers a larger curb or pedestrian area. Now, the organization is working to bring the simple concept to other American cities.

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Flock Safety Says Its License Plate Readers Reduce Crime. It's Not That Simple

Louise Matsakis

October 24, 2019 |

Wired |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Austell, Georgia

Cobb County, Georgia installed new license plate surveillance technology, loaned to them by the Atlanta-based company, Flock Safety. After installation, the test area saw a dramatic decrease in crime, to which Flock took credit for but experts say the connection could be due to a number of things. Furthermore, while surveillance technology has been correlated with decreased crime, communities have called into question issues of personal privacy versus public safety.

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