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Originally Posted by Adder
We don't ban tobacco because we know it doesn't work - my wife worked on tobacco policy for 10 years - prohibition will just lead to an active black market. We know other policies, like higher tobacco taxes, do work and help save lives. These days, they're working on raising the smoking age to 21, on the theory that it will make it harder for teenagers to get them and delaying when kids try them prevents people from becoming new smokers.
The wife has left tobacco policy but was/is skeptical that the science was there do back up this theory, but it's what her old org is doing.
But there are lots of things around cars and guns we could do that wouldn't cost that much (ban SUVs, lower speed limits, repurpose street space to other modes to narrow lanes, background checks, etc) and prevent lots of deaths. In many cases, the political will isn't there.
And then there are the side effects of not preventing a lot of deaths in a crisis, like economic panic and uncertainty.
But let's not forget that what's going on now is out of desperation, after having spent month not doing anything. We should have the capacity for widespread testing, and might have with a competent administration. We should have been doing temperature checks on arriving passengers for months. Our leadership completely dropped the ball.
Speaking of which, some friend were in Spain when Trump announced the European travel ban. 48 hours of chaos but they came home early from their trip. No one asked them where in Spain they had been or did anything to check their health. Until the Uber driving taking them home.
They're on day four, I think, of voluntary self-quarantine.
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I just realized, you are my "bike lane" expert. In TCOTU, on the avenues, the central lanes are driving of course. Then you have a parking lane, then the bike lane. Then the sidewalk.
My little burb put a main road on a diet- 4 lanes to 2. But it is drive/bike/park which seems really dangerous. To park you have to cross the bike lane? Why isn't one arrangement settled?
