Car crash coverage: Why the media keeps botching it.

May 20, 2022

As popular outrage at pedestrian deaths faded, the media’s attention waned, too. The national auto safety debate prompted by the 1965 publication of Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed focused, like the book itself, primarily on hazards to car occupants, not pedestrians or cyclists. By 2020, the toll from automobile crashes was seen as so unremarkable that Republican leaders, including then-President Donald Trump and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, cited the supposed inevitability of tens of thousands of annual traffic deaths as justification for rejecting pandemic restrictions. Like many Americans, such leaders treat traffic deaths as unavoidable collateral damage from the pursuit of a car-centric American dream.

“We’re totally immune to this idea that 40,000 people die every year on U.S. roads,” says Kelcie Ralph, a professor of urban planning at Rutgers University. “We shrug it off.”

Slate.com, May 18, 2022

Recent Posts

“Work Trends RU” Podcast with WorkingNation’s Jane Oates

This week's guest on the Heldrich Center's Work Trends RU podcast is Jane Oates, Senior Policy Advisor at WorkingNation. She and Dr. Carl Van Horn discuss WorkingNation’s mission, objectives, and accomplishments; the power of digital storytelling; the challenges of...

Zhang et al. Study Street-View Greenspace and Exercise

GPS-based street-view greenspace exposure and wearable assessed physical activity in a prospective cohort of US women Abstract Background Increasing evidence positively links greenspace and physical activity (PA). However, most studies use measures of greenspace, such...

NJSPL: Some College, No Credential Population in NJ

Overview of the Some College, No Credential Population and Educational Outcomes in New Jersey, 2023–2024 New Jersey State Policy Lab Supporting New Jersey residents in returning to college after leaving without a credential has been an increasing focus of the state’s...

Loh and Noland Explore Public Charging Station Disparities

Equal charging for all: Are there income-based disparities in public charging stations? Abstract We compare charging station accessibility for different income groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a microsimulation model, we estimate charging station...

Heldrich Center Releases New Work Trends Brief and Website

The Heldrich Center for Workforce Development is pleased to announce the availability of two new research products resulting from its long-running public opinion polling series, Work Trends. To better understand the public’s attitudes about work, employers, and the...