Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Public Health

What Should Doctors Do to Prevent Traffic Deaths?

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 13, 2014 | No Comments

When cars first became a common presence in American cities, doctors were shocked by the carnage. In 1925, editors of the New England Journal of Medicine called the bloodshed caused by motorists “appalling” and lamented children’s loss of life as “a massacre of the innocent.” The sense of urgency was still detectable a few decades later. […]

TED Talk: OKC Mayor Mick Cornett on Designing a City for Fitness

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 6, 2014 | No Comments

I got to know Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett last year, when I interviewed him at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. We talked about his realization that he and his constituents (generally speaking) were obese, and how he stood in front of the elephants at the zoo on New Year’s […]

The Health Care Cost of Traffic Crashes, and More Ped Injury Summit Tidbits

By Brad Aaron | Dec 16, 2013 | 3 Comments

Here is more from last week’s pedestrian injury summit at Elmhurst Hospital. NYC DOT Infrastructure: Ann Marie Doherty, NYC DOT chief of research for implementation and safety, highlighted the agency’s 2010 pedestrian safety study and action plan. Doherty said DOT is working to get laws passed related to side guards on trucks, to keep people from being […]

Doctors Relate the Horror of Traffic Violence at Pedestrian Injury Summit

By Brad Aaron | Dec 13, 2013 | 3 Comments

Medical professionals and transportation experts convened Thursday for the third New York City Summit on Pedestrian Injury, hosted by Elmhurst Hospital. The day-long event brought transportation officials and advocates together with doctors who witness the destruction caused by reckless drivers in the city every day. The summit is chaired by Dr. Jamie Ullman, director of neurosurgery […]

MIT Study: Vehicle Emissions Cause 58,000 Premature Deaths Yearly in U.S.

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 22, 2013 | No Comments

Just when you thought it was safe to breathe, a pair of studies underscore the grave threat that air pollution poses to public health. According to new research from MIT, in 2005 air pollution accounted for a staggering 200,000 premature deaths in the United States, more than 58,000 of which can be attributed to vehicle emissions. Air […]

Heart Disease, Traffic Jams and ADHD Share One Simple Solution: Drive Less

By Elly Blue | Oct 18, 2013 | No Comments

This is an excerpt from “Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy,” by Elly Blue (Microcosm Publishing, December 1, 2013, bikenomics.com). See our interview with Elly from spring 2013. Car exhaust is no laughing matter. Nearly half of residents in major urban areas in North America live close enough to highways and other large roads […]

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