Month: September 2024

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

America has been getting more and more dangerous for pedestrians over the past few years. It's a trend with several contributing factors—our built environment prioritizes passenger vehicle traffic and encourages speeding, and traffic enforcement is virtually absent in many cities. But it's undeniable that vehicle design—particularly of large pickup trucks and SUVs—has been causing excess casualties. For example, a study published in January found that an increase in hood height of four inches (100 mm) translated to a 28 percent increase in pedestrian deaths.

Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that vehicle design needs to change to reduce the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured in crashes. The notice of proposed rulemaking, which is open for public comment for the next 60 days, wants to harmonize federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) with a global standard already in effect in many countries around the world.

"We have a crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased 57 percent, from 4,779 to 7,522. This proposed rule will ensure that vehicles will be designed to protect those inside and outside from serious injury or death. We will continue to work to make our roads safer for everyone and help protect vulnerable road users,' said Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s deputy administrator.

Enlarge / Boeing Factory workers assemble Boeing 787 airliners at the Boeing factory in Everett, WA. (credit: Vince Streano | The Image Bank Unreleased)

Boeing is hoping to avoid a strike Friday with a tentative deal reached Sunday with the Machinists union representing 33,000 of its West Coast employees fighting for better wages and working conditions.

If Boeing employees agree to the deal in a vote Thursday, their new contract will provide the "largest-ever general wage increase" in the company's history, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stephanie Pope said in a press release.

The potential deal guarantees that over the next four years, Boeing employees would receive a 25 percent pay raise, as well as "lower medical cost share to make healthcare more affordable, greater company contributions toward" retirement, and "improvements for a better work-life balance," Pope said.