Text messaging tow truck driver in Lockport slams into car and goes for a swim

Texting is increasingly seen as a major threat to the safety of all road users. That might have been realized earlier if the government hadn't covered up data.

A crazy incident today in Lockport illustrates the point:

Police say a Buffalo-area tow truck driver was juggling two cell phones -- texting on one and talking on another -- when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool. Niagara County sheriff's deputies say 25-year-old Nicholas Sparks of Burt admitted he was texting and talking when his flatbed truck hit the car Wednesday morning in Lockport. The truck then crashed through a fence and sideswiped a house before rolling front-end first into an in-ground pool. The 68-year-old woman driving the car suffered head injuries and was in good condition. Her 8-year-old niece suffered minor injuries. Sparks was charged with reckless driving, talking on a cell phone and following too closely.

Design to Get People Out of Their Cars?

Great post from Treehugger. Well designed streets are likely to encourage recreational activity as well: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/design_makes_a.php

We conclude that if you want to get people out of their cars and build a sustainable society, then you have to design it really well, think about all aspects of it right down to the typefaces, and make it attractive and interesting and fun.

Audi Commercial Using Bicycle

An interesting advertisement from the car company, which takes advantage of the rise in popularity of urban cycling: http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/07/wishful-thinking.html

Bike Tours as Real Estate Showcase

An example from our lakeside neighbor to the west:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/greathomesanddestinations/10Chicago.html

I gave a bike tour of industrial Chicago to urban planning professionals from the Netherlands,” said Rachel Weber, a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, “and the substance of their questions had less to do with my talk than with residential real estate. They were all looking to scoop up affordable second homes.”

Air Pollution Sickening Mothers and Children

Air pollution is sickening pregnant women who live near roadways, more than doubling their risk of a premature birth, according to a new study: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/30/traffic-premature-birth.html

Newark Offers Bike Safety Roadeo, Free Bikes

Inspiration from Newark, New Jersey: http://www.bikenewark.com/2009/07/newark-bicycle-road-eo-july-11th-gives.html

For more information about the Newark event, call the Division of Recreation/Cultural Affairs at (973) 733-6454 or Iesha Suber at University Hospital at (973) 972-5354 or e-mail her at suberim@umdnj.edu.

Shrinking the Rust Belt

New Geography reports here: http://www.newgeography.com/content/00883-shrinking-rust-belt. An excerpt below:

Many cities around the country, especially in the Rust Belt have experienced major population loss in their urban cores which has sometimes spilled into their entire metro area. They have thousands of abandoned homes, decayed infrastructure, environmental challenges, and no growth to justify a belief that many districts will ever be repopulated.

Medium sized cities like Flint and Youngstown have been more willing to face up to challenges. In contrast, places like Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo still see themselves as important national cities. Pride is blocking the effort to undertake a major managed shrinkage program. Instead of adjusting to reality, these cities continue to pour hundreds of millions into projects that vainly attempt to restart growth. .

Hopefully, a recentralized, shrinking Buffalo will become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly as destinations become closer together. This in turn would benefit Buffalo's social, economic, environmental and health quality of life indicators.