End of Daylight Savings Time and Ends of Lives of Pedestrians and Cyclists

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The end of Daylight Savings Time is a time for more attention to protect ourselves and others.

The NY Times recently carried an excellent article that began with:“On average, 17 pedestrians and two cyclists were killed each day in traffic crashes in 2018.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/us/pedestrian-cyclist-deaths-traffic.html
NHTSA fatality trend data shows it is worsening:
“the proportion of people killed “outside the vehicle” (motorcyclists, pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and other nonoccupants) has increased from a low of 20 per-cent in 1996 to a high of 34 percent in 2018.
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812826
NHTSA 2017 Annual Report Traffic Safety Facts has counts of 878 Pedestrian fatalities plus 96 Pedalcyclists killed with the related factor “Not Visible (dark clothing, no lighting, etc.).  See pp 132 and 135. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812806

Note the number injured but not killed each year is about 20 times greater than the number of fatalities.  The 2017 Fatality Rate for Non-occupants was 2.15 per 100,000 population.  The 2017 Injury Rate for Non-occupants was 41 per 100,000 population.  NHTSA estimates about 70,000 pedestrians and 50,000 pedalcyclists were injured in 2017.
See Tables 4 and 12 on pp 24, 40, and 41 at  https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812806

What can we do to protect ourselves and others?
Let there be light.  Lights on bikes, better headlights on cars, and white and reflective clothing clothing help.
“Be Bright Be Safe” has long been seen as good safety advice.  See how white reflective clothing can help.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/home/be-safe-be-bright/
The Car Book, Consumer Reports and the IIHS are identifying vehicle safety features for new cars to protect pedestrians and pedalcyclists. 

Center for Auto Safety’s Car Book has valuable information on the safety of new vehicles that will save you time, money, aggravation and may save your life: https://www.autosafety.org/
Consumer Reports:  Has good advice on cars, bikes, and bike helmets.  
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/bikes/buying-guide/index.htmhttps://www.consumerreports.org/cro/bike-helmets.htm
IIHS has videos and important crash test information:
https://www.iihs.org/topics/pedestrians-and-bicyclists#overviewhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSt2fV_J7g0

The end of Daylight Savings Time each year comes just before election day, and deadly holiday travel days.
Bright idea: Imagine if candidates were to use reflective materials on white bumper stickers and white clothing gear to show safety concern for their supporters, save lives, and when in office do more to advance safety for all of us.
How many Americans know that white cars are about 10% safer than other color cars?  Ten percent safer is a bright idea,  I have long worked to get the word out, but more people need to know. Be bright be safe.  See https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/consumersbuyingmorewhitecarsandgreatersafety/
Lou

Will We Still Be Unprotected After Impeachment?

Violations of the Emoluments Clause? The Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty reports on Speaker Pelosi’s remarks:

Asked whether all of that is sufficient fodder for articles of impeachment against the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) earlier this week told a group of columnists: ‘There’s no question about that, right? We’ve had enough for a very long time. No, I think we have enough. But as long as there’s corroboration, we might as well get some more.’”

The bigger challenge, she suggested, may be deciding what not to include. One thing that is not likely to make the cut, she said, is Trump’s apparent violation of what he calls the “phony emoluments clause” — which is the Constitution’s very clear ban on government officials’ accepting gifts or payments “from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” 1

Public Sentiment? The Washington Post also posted a column on Speaker Pelosi’s thinking by Lincoln biographer Sidney Blumenthal:

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Image by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, no changes.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Image by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, no changes.

 “Whatever Pelosi’s speculative tactical scenario, her account of Lincoln’s ideas about public opinion is badly mistaken. ‘With public sentiment, nothing can fail,’ Lincoln said. ‘Without it, nothing can succeed.’ Critically, however, Pelosi sees public opinion as something to follow. Lincoln saw it as something to shape.” 2

What Will Public Sentiment Be? If Dems ignore the elephant of Big Invisible Global (BIG) money in the room, will that be seen as protecting Biden and other past, present and future officials?

Public sentiment will be influenced by what is included and not included in the articles of impeachment.

If we don’t follow the money, we will not be able to make sufficient progress on our existential threats.

As I reported in Legal Reader last year, we the people, face existential threats including the Climate Crisis, Inequality, Instability and Injustice. 3

Each of us must do our part to build a progressive public sentiment, before it is too late.