How American Fire Departments are Getting People Killed
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the paradox of fire truck size and road safety in the US. It highlights how oversized American fire trucks, influenced by outdated regulations, necessitate excessively wide streets that actually increase traffic speeds and accidents. The script contrasts this with European practices, where smaller, more maneuverable fire trucks are used, and suggests that North America should adopt similar strategies to improve both emergency response times and pedestrian safety, without compromising the effectiveness of firefighting.
Takeaways
- 🧯 Fire trucks in the US are significantly larger than those in other developed countries, which affects street design and safety.
- 🚑 Despite the common perception, fire trucks in the US are rarely used for building fires, with the majority of calls being for medical emergencies or rescue.
- 🛣️ American streets are often designed too wide to accommodate large fire trucks, which research shows can lead to higher speeds and more fatal crashes.
- 🚫 Fire departments have been known to oppose infrastructure projects like bike lanes and roundabouts due to concerns over response times and space requirements.
- 🏗️ There is a crisis of road safety in the US, with pedestrian deaths increasing significantly since 2010, a trend not seen in other developed nations.
- 🌍 European and Asian fire trucks are built on standardized commercial chassis, making them more maneuverable and cost-effective compared to the custom-built US counterparts.
- 🔄 The role of US fire departments has expanded to respond to nearly every type of emergency, leading to the need for larger trucks equipped for various situations.
- 🚒 The size and specifications of American fire trucks are often justified by the need for large ladders and powerful engines, but this is not reflected in the trucks' actual usage.
- 🏙️ Urban planning and street design in the US are hindered by outdated fire department regulations that prioritize large vehicles over pedestrian safety.
- 🚓 Alternative emergency response methods, such as using ambulances or motorcycles, could improve response times and reduce the need for wide streets.
- 🛠️ Changes in fire department regulations and practices, along with infrastructure improvements, could create safer streets without impeding emergency response capabilities.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the video script regarding the US fire department?
-The main issue discussed is that the current size of American fire trucks and the outdated regulations they follow are contributing to road safety problems, including higher pedestrian fatalities and hindered progress in street design aimed at reducing traffic accidents.
How have pedestrian deaths in the US changed since 2010?
-Pedestrian deaths in the US have increased by 77% since 2010, reaching levels not seen since 1982, which is a trend not observed in other developed nations.
What is one of the reasons mentioned for the increased danger of American streets?
-One of the reasons mentioned is that American roads are too wide, leading to higher vehicle speeds and more fatal crashes, which is partly due to the requirement to accommodate large fire trucks.
What percentage of fire truck calls in the US are actually for building fires?
-Less than 4% of fire truck calls in the US are for building fires, with a significant majority of calls being for medical emergencies or rescue.
Why are American fire trucks oversized compared to those in other countries?
-American fire trucks are oversized because they are designed to handle a wide range of emergencies beyond fires, including medical emergencies, gas leaks, hazmat situations, and more, which requires them to carry a large amount of equipment.
What is an example of a city that had to change its plans for bike lanes due to opposition from the fire department?
-Baltimore had to change its plans for installing new bike lanes downtown because the fire department argued that the lanes would make the streets too small for their trucks.
What alternative methods could be used to improve emergency response times without needing large fire trucks?
-Alternative methods include using ambulances, emergency response motorcycles, or other smaller vehicles that can provide immediate care on-scene while waiting for specialized emergency services to arrive.
What is the difference between a fire engine and a fire truck as mentioned in the script?
-A fire engine is primarily designed for firefighting, carrying water pumps, hoses, and water tanks, while a fire truck is equipped with long aerial ladders or platforms for rescue operations and providing access to high places.
Why are European fire trucks typically smaller than those in the US?
-European fire trucks are typically smaller because they are built on standardized commercial chassis from local companies, which makes them cheaper, more maneuverable, and with better crash safety, while still being effectively equipped for firefighting.
What are some of the proposals made by Scott Brody to improve fire access and street design?
-Scott Brody proposes several changes based on international best practices, such as adding more prepositioned hoses, on-site pumps or standpipes, adding sprinklers to residential structures, changing building regulations to allow splitting large buildings, and infrastructural changes like connecting street grids and adding emergency spaces for fire trucks.
How do the script's arguments relate to the broader discussion on urban planning and traffic safety?
-The script argues that urban planning should prioritize safety and efficiency, suggesting that smaller, more maneuverable fire trucks and better street design, such as wider bike lanes and roundabouts, can improve both traffic safety and emergency response times, while also considering the integration of emergency infrastructure into the urban fabric.
Outlines
🚒 Firefighters' Role and Road Safety Crisis
The script starts by celebrating firefighters as heroic figures with impressive gear, known for rescuing cats and their popular calendars. However, it shifts focus to a serious issue: the crisis of road safety in the US, particularly the alarming increase in pedestrian deaths. Unlike other developed countries, the US has seen a surge in road fatalities since 2010, largely due to the design of its streets. Advocates argue that excessively wide roads and high vehicle speeds contribute to this problem. The script introduces a surprising culprit: outdated fire department regulations that mandate large fire trucks, which in turn require excessively wide streets, leading to higher speeds and more accidents.
🛑 Conflict Between Firefighting and Street Design
This paragraph delves into the conflict between the need for large fire trucks and the desire for safer, narrower streets. It details how fire department opposition has led to the cancellation or reduction of safe streets projects in various North American cities, such as Baltimore, Arlington, and Los Angeles. The script challenges the necessity of large fire trucks for non-fire emergencies, pointing out that the majority of fire department calls are for medical emergencies or rescues, not fires. It contrasts the situation in the US with practices in the Netherlands, where fire trucks are reserved for actual fires, and smaller, more agile vehicles are used for other emergencies.
🔧 The Over-Specification of American Fire Trucks
The script discusses the oversized nature of American fire trucks, which are built on large custom chassis and equipped with more features and power than necessary. It compares this to European and Asian fire trucks, which are built on standardized commercial chassis, making them more maneuverable and cost-effective. The American fire trucks' excessive size and horsepower are criticized as unnecessary, especially considering that they are used for a small percentage of emergencies that require their specific equipment. The paragraph also highlights the irony of advocating for wide streets for these large vehicles while their design makes them difficult to maneuver.
🏗️ Infrastructure and Emergency Response Reconsidered
This section of the script proposes changes to fire department regulations and infrastructure to improve safety without hindering the fire department's effectiveness. Suggestions include using pre-positioned hoses, on-site pumps, sprinklers in residential structures, and publicly-accessible defibrillators. It also recommends infrastructural changes such as interconnected street grids and designated emergency spaces that can double as public spaces when not in use. The script emphasizes the need to integrate emergency infrastructure into urban planning rather than prioritizing wide roads for fire trucks.
🚦 The Impact of Traffic Calming and Car-Centric Design
The script addresses the fire department's resistance to traffic-calming measures like roundabouts, which are shown to reduce accidents and improve traffic flow. It argues that the US has a higher traffic signal density than the Netherlands, causing more delays for emergency vehicles. The paragraph points out the hypocrisy of fire departments opposing measures like bike lanes and narrow streets that could improve safety but not addressing the real issue of cars causing traffic congestion. It calls for fire departments to support measures that reduce car traffic and improve emergency response times.
🚔 Cars as the Real Obstacle for Emergency Services
The final paragraph focuses on the real obstacle for fire trucks: cars. It uses a Baltimore fire department video to illustrate how cars, not bike lanes, hinder fire trucks. The script argues that wide roads and street parking induce more driving and traffic, which slows down emergency vehicles. It criticizes fire departments for not supporting measures that reduce car traffic and for their lack of acknowledgment of international examples of better practices. The script ends with a call for fire departments to work with advocates for change and a humorous threat to write a song criticizing them if they do not.
🔒 Data Privacy and the Role of Incogni
In the concluding part, the script shifts focus to the issue of data privacy, introducing Incogni as a solution. It describes how Incogni helps protect personal data by requesting its removal from data brokers and managing objections. The service is positioned as a safeguard against identity theft and loss of privacy control, offering a continuous protection plan, including a Family & Friends option. The script provides a promotional offer for viewers to try Incogni's services at a discounted rate.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Firefighters
💡Pedestrian deaths
💡Street design
💡Regulations
💡Emergency response
💡Bike lanes
💡Roundabouts
💡Defibrillators
💡Car-free streets
💡Data privacy
Highlights
Pedestrian deaths in the US have increased by 77% since 2010, marking the highest rate since 1982.
American roads are often too wide and vehicle speeds too fast, contributing to a dangerous street design.
Fire departments' outdated regulations are a significant barrier to building safer streets.
American fire trucks are much larger than international counterparts, necessitating wider streets for maneuverability.
Wider streets have been proven to lead to higher speeds and more fatal crashes.
Safe streets projects are often delayed or canceled due to opposition from fire departments.
Less than 4% of fire truck calls are for building fires, with 64% being for medical emergencies or rescue.
European fire trucks are built on standardized commercial chassis, making them more maneuverable and cost-effective.
American fire trucks are often over-specified with more horsepower and valves than necessary.
European fire trucks use smaller chassis and pack equipment more efficiently, despite having similar capabilities.
Fire trucks in the US are oversized for the majority of emergencies they respond to.
Alternative emergency response methods, like ambulances or motorcycles, could improve response times.
Fire departments' insistence on wide roads for large trucks can hinder the implementation of traffic calming measures.
Roundabouts, common in Europe, can reduce injury and fatal collisions significantly but are rare in the US due to opposition.
Fire departments' policies can inadvertently increase response times and create a cycle of dependence on wide streets.
Proposed changes in fire department regulations could improve safety without replacing existing fire trucks.
Incogni offers a solution to protect personal data privacy by managing data removal from brokers and preventing re-addition.
Transcripts
Firefighters! Everybody loves them!
They're heroic, They've got cool gear,
They rescue cats from trees, They've got sexy calendars
And giant … hoses. And let's face it,
nobody ever wrote a song called “F- tha Fire Department.”
But there’s a crisis of road safety in the US In particular, pedestrian deaths have
increased by 77% since 2010, the highest they've been since 1982.
And a trend that is not being seen in other developed nations.
Advocates, urban planners, and some of the better traffic engineers, are raising the alarm,
pun intended, that one of the biggest factors that makes the US more dangerous than other
countries, is street design. American roads are too wide,
vehicle speeds are too fast, and American street design is fundamentally dangerous.
But there’s one big thing that stands in the way of building safer streets:
The fire department. Specifically,
their outdated and dangerous regulations. American fire trucks are absolutely huge
compared to their international counterparts. This means that even quiet residential streets
also need to be absolutely huge in order to fit them.
And yet decades of research has proven that wider streets lead to higher speeds
and more fatal crashes. In the US and Canada,
things need to change, because right now, fire departments are getting people killed.
[NJB INTRO] There are a disturbingly large number of safe
streets projects in North America that have been postponed, watered down, or cancelled entirely
because of opposition from fire departments. Baltimore was supposed to install 10 miles of
new bike lanes downtown, but the fire department said that would make the streets too small for its
trucks and aggressively fought against the plan. And similar objections happened in Arlington.
And in Los Angeles. In Peekskill, New York,
the community created a car-free street during the lockdown, which the fire department opposed
at the first possible opportunity. And in Toronto the complaints of
the fire department have been used to propose removing a protected bike lane.
All of this potential progress to make streets safer was lost because of giant fire trucks.
But hey, we need those big fire trucks to fight fires. Right? Here’s
a question for you. What do firefighters do? You’re probably thinking “Uhh, they fight fires.
When your house is on fire, they put it out.” And I can forgive you for thinking that,
because they're called “FIRE fighters.” But actually, less than 4% of fire truck calls are
for building fires. That’s right. Less than 4%. A US study showed that nationally, about 8% of calls
were for false alarms. Double that of fires. But a whopping 64% of all fire department calls were
for medical emergencies or rescue. Sixteen times that of fires. And yet, North America is still
sending fire trucks to all of those emergencies. This explains one of the things that surprised
me about the Netherlands, and what made it hard for me to film my own footage for this video:
I very often see police cars and ambulances on the street, but I don't often see fire trucks.
That’s because here, fire trucks are usually reserved for the emergencies that, y'know,
need a fire truck. Incidentally, there is a difference between a fire engine and a fire truck.
Fire engines are primarily designed for firefighting. They carry water pumps,
hoses, and water tanks to fight fires. While fire trucks are equipped with
long aerial ladders or platforms and are primarily designed for rescue operations
and providing access to high places. But colloquially most Americans say
"fire trucks" to mean both, so that's what I'm going to use in this video.
The British, who colloquially use "fire engine" for both, can get upset and write
me a strongly-worded letter in response. I also apologise in advance for the lack of
metric units in this video. Yes, imperial units are ridiculous, but we're talking about America
here, so get prepared for feet, gallons, and diet coke hamburgers per bald eagle.
The morphing role of the American fire department as the response to
nearly every emergency is one of the reasons their fire trucks have become so bloated.
They have to carry more than just fire equipment - they have to be prepared
for medical emergencies, gas leaks, hazmat situations, biochemical attacks, and more.
These giant do-everything fire trucks mean that fire departments are hauling
all this fire fighting equipment with them to every emergency call.
Equipment like a thousand gallons of water for a fire engine, or a hundred foot ladder
for a fire truck. Even though that equipment is needed in just a small percent of emergencies.
Now, if you're asking WHY they're sending fire trucks to all these emergencies, the reason is
that a lot of places in America don't have as many ambulances as they do fire trucks.
So when an old woman has a heart attack, a fire truck is
likely to be the closest vehicle to respond. And I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that,
typically, treating an old woman for a heart attack does not actually require
a thousand gallons of water. Now, safety regulations rightfully
dictate a maximum response time for different kinds of emergencies, and this is especially
important for medical emergencies like cardiac arrest, where quick treatment with a
defibrillator can significantly impact outcomes. But it seems crazy to send a fire truck - and
reminder, that’s a 40 foot truck carrying a hundred foot ladder or a thousand gallons of
water - to every medical emergency. But there are alternatives,
of course. Like sending an ambulance, or even a motorcycle, that could provide
immediate care on-scene while waiting for specialised emergency services to arrive.
Which is common in lots of places. There’s even precedent for this IN North America!
Daytona Beach uses emergency response motorcycles, and they have an average
response time of 3 minutes. The rest of the US, which uses large trucks, averages 7 minutes.
Because it is always going to take longer for a giant fire truck - and reminder,
that’s a 40 foot truck carrying a hundred foot ladder or a thousand gallons of water - to make
it through a crowded city than a motorcycle. But fire departments routinely argue that
we can’t build any infrastructure that might delay those big trucks even more.
When I was an advocate, I watched fire departments try to veto bike lane projects on the grounds
that it would slow down their response time. Because yeah, bike lanes slow down fire trucks,
right? Just look at this clip from the Netherlands where these firefighters are stuck in … oh …
wait … nevermind. They’re driving down the bike lane. Yeah, smaller emergency
vehicles can actually benefit from the same infrastructure that keeps people safe on bicycles.
In fact, in many places, it’s better to build bike lanes wider to improve emergency response times.
When the cycling superhighways, still the dumbest name ever, were built in London,
they were specifically designed to be used by emergency vehicles. Here it is in action.
And I can tell you from experience, a bunch of people on bicycles can
clear the road way faster than any line of cars. Hands down. It’s not even comparable.
Of course, this is only possible if the bike lanes are big enough,
but also if your fire truck can actually fit in the bike lane. Which may not be possible
for many giant North American fire trucks. There are a few other reasons why North
American fire trucks are larger than their European counterparts.
In the US and Canada, fire trucks are typically built on a large custom chassis,
which allows purchasers to keep adding more and more features as the truck gets bigger and bigger.
European and Asian fire trucks are typically built on standardised commercial chassis
from local companies like MAN, Mercedes, Renault, Scania, or in this case, Isuzu.
These are basically regular commercial trucks that have been adapted for use in fire fighting.
Using a standardised chassis makes the trucks cheaper and more manoeuvrable,
and they also have better crash safety too. But using smaller trucks does mean that fire
departments have to figure out how to more effectively use the space in their trucks.
If you compare the inside of an American fire truck with the inside of a European truck,
you can see there's a huge difference. It's not that European firefighters are
less prepared, they just pack things better in the smaller space available.
Which is why when you see the absurd size of American fire trucks discussed online, there will
be some American firefighter in the comments who tries to set everyone straight by typing a laundry
list of things that American fire trucks carry, justifying why their trucks need to be so big.
Which is then followed by a German firefighter saying,
‘what the hell are you talking about? We carry that stuff too but our trucks aren't enormous.
The American fire truck is also over-spec'd. While
a European engine will have just enough horsepower for the pumps,
an American engine will typically be more than 20% higher horsepower than required,
which makes the size of the truck much bigger. And European fire trucks use the minimum number of
valves, typically 2-4, which the pump operator manually adjusts to achieve proper pressure,
while North American fire trucks often have 7-14 valves based on a system of pre-connected lines.
They're really living up to that US stereotype of getting the biggest and
most overpowered truck you can get, just for that one time you might actually need it.
We also hear that American fire trucks have to be so big because of the length of the
ladders. Because of course! American cities have big buildings that need big ladders.
Look, if you go to any city with skyscrapers, like Tokyo or Hong Kong,
I’m sure you’ll see the same thing. Oh, wait, no. Actually they use the
same size trucks that the rest of the world uses. Look at how tiny this fire truck looks in Tokyo!
And here's a fire truck and a fire engine in Hong Kong.
And yet, European and Asian fire trucks have ladders that reach just as high,
even though the trucks themselves are shorter and have a smaller turning radius.
And what’s absurd about this is that even if larger ladders are required where there are
tall buildings, why are the exact same fire trucks used in suburbia
where there’s nothing but single-family homes? And the issue again, is safety. Giant trucks mean
the streets need to be too big, but the trucks themselves are more dangerous to people on the
street, too. Like all big trucks, they’re heavier, less manoeuvrable, and take longer to stop.
Many of them also have lower visibility, making it harder for the driver to
see people who are walking or cycling. And if you hit someone with a fire truck,
who do you call? Another fire truck?
In 2005 the Discovery channel aired an episode of “mean machines” where a US fire truck,
used on a US military base in the UK, was put into a head-to-head
competition with a local UK fire truck. "They had them run a mock obstacle course
to see which one was more manoeuvrable. It was embarrassing.
Look at this!" A professional fire truck driver
is running over children, sorry, I mean cones left and right because these vehicles are insane.
Meanwhile the European truck navigated the course with ease. It wasn't even a contest.
We’re constantly being told that our streets need to be insanely wide because manoeuvring
a fire truck is so important, but then they buy these vehicles that are inherently unmaneuverable.
And while we’re comparing European fire trucks, I just need to say that European
sirens are better, and less-annoying too. They use a lower pitch frequency, which
means that they can both be heard further away AND they cause less hearing damage.
Half as Interesting has a great video on why European sirens are better,
link in the description. These differences in
fire truck design are often presented by American fire departments as a funny quirk
of how different countries do things differently. But of course, it’s not so funny when the fire
trucks have such big implications for road design. Giant fire trucks require a lot of room to pass,
they have huge turning radii, and they take up even more space when they extend their ladders.
To accommodate these factors, fire departments demand bigger and bigger roads.
Even in a very urban city like San Francisco, the fire department requires
ALL roads in new developments to be 30% wider than the code minimum of 20 feet.
So every street, even residential streets end up with 13-foot freeway-size lanes
in each direction. And for the benefit of most of my audience who uses metric, that
means car lanes that are almost 4 metres wide. These wider lanes lead people to drive faster,
which means more and deadlier car crashes. On a 30 mile per hour road, changing the lane width
from 9 feet to 12 feet increases crashes by 50%. And it’s not just street width.
Fire departments fight other traffic-calming measures, even roundabouts, on the grounds that
it will take them longer to get to emergencies. Roundabouts are almost non-existent in the US
unless you’re in Carmel, Indiana or something. But they’re extremely common in Europe,
because traffic flows better and they’re often safer than signalised intersections.
Replacing an intersection with a roundabout can reduce injury and fatal collisions by 78-82%,
depending on the type of intersection. That seems like a great idea that
could save a lot of lives, right? But some fire departments actively
campaign against safety measures like roundabouts because they don’t accommodate
20-foot-wide streets all the way around. They argue that having to slow down to navigate
the roundabout creates an unacceptable delay, and every second counts getting to an emergency.
But how true is that, really? Even though most Americans are
scared to use them, roundabouts are very efficient and actually IMPROVE traffic flow.
And some estimates show that changing signalised intersections to roundabouts can actually speed up
emergency response times, by about 30 seconds. But there are fire departments who won’t even
consider allowing this, because they have a blanket policy that
opposes all forms of traffic calming. The US also has a much higher traffic
signal density than a place like the Netherlands, even though the
Netherlands has a much higher population density. Countries like the Netherlands have eliminated
the need for so many traffic signals because they’ve implemented more efficient tools like
roundabouts, and roads with fewer intersections. That means that travelling the same distance,
a fire truck in America will hit way more traffic signals than a fire truck in the Netherlands,
which means way more intersections where a fire truck needs to slow
down to avoid a potential collision. Fire departments that have these kinds
of blanket rules are not only putting more people in danger from crashes,
they’re also getting to emergencies slower! And here’s the really sad part.
5.3% of all emergencies that fire trucks respond to in the US, are motor vehicle crashes.
That’s MORE than building fires. So these wide streets allow fire
trucks to quickly respond to the car crashes … that are caused by these wide streets.
And since fire trucks are so big, roads need to be made bigger, which makes more people
crash their cars, which means more fire trucks are needed, which means we build more wide roads and …
you might say, well, this keeps the fire department in business,
but that’s not the way things work. Fire departments are just a cost for cities.
Nobody wants this! The good news is that the fire
department regulations that have created these dangerous conditions could change right now, even
without replacing a single American fire truck. I talked to Scott Brody, who conducted a masters
thesis on street design and is now writing a book on fire access and small streets,
and he has several proposals based on international best practises:
Like adding more prepositioned hoses to start firefighting before trucks even arrive.
More on-site pumps or standpipes in the city to accept water from a pumper parked farther away,
like is common in malls and skyscrapers. Adding sprinklers to more classes of
residential structures which can contain or fully extinguish fires on their own.
Changing building regulations to allow splitting large buildings, like shopping malls,
into smaller buildings, to prevent fires and especially smoke from spreading quickly.
Adding publicly-accessible automatic defibrillators or AEDs so that heart
attack victims can get treatment faster. Bystander defibrillation is common here
in the Netherlands, where public AEDs are combined with an app that provides
the locations of AEDs and alerts when a nearby person requires CPR.
And when you load the app, you see that there are a lot of them around
So if you live in the Netherlands, please install the HartslagNu app. It might save somebody's life
some day. I'll put a link in the description. Incidentally, the cardiac arrest survival rate
in the Netherlands is roughly 2.5 times that of the US.
Scott also suggests infrastructural changes for new developments which could, with a little work,
be retrofitted onto existing streets. Like connecting street grids so that fire
trucks can get around blockages and turn around without needing giant cul de sacs.
Instead of requiring an entire street to be wide enough for
a fire truck to park while cars can pass, the city can just have emergency spaces every
so often, like is common in the Netherlands. This looks like just an oversized sidewalk
But this sign makes it clear that there's a water connection here.
And this space is specifically designed for fire trucks.
Once you know what to look for, you start seeing these spaces all over the city.
Here's one right next to that AED I showed a moment ago.
And when they’re not being used by fire trucks, they’re extra spaces for people. Isn't this nice?
This is what's possible when your city moves past "let's make roads as wide as possible for fire
trucks" and starts thinking "how do we integrate emergency infrastructure into the urban fabric?"
And if for some reason emergency services do need to set up outside one of these designated spaces,
just let them block the street, knowing that cars can pass by just going around the block.
We need to accept that drivers can be mildly inconvenienced when there’s a serious emergency.
All these changes would allow us to build safer streets today without stopping the
fire department from doing their job. But North America does also need to
reduce the size of their fire trucks. We should be immediately swapping in better,
safer trucks right now, on the pre-planned, regular vehicle replacement schedule that
cities and fire departments are using already. This is what they’re doing in San Francisco,
where they’re replacing the old trucks with new ones that are shorter and more manoeuvrable,
yet have the same pumping capacity. They're still bigger than European
fire trucks but the point is, it is possible to get rid of these huge trucks over time.
Because even if you took out all the bike lanes, and roundabouts, and pedestrian areas, there are
still going to be obstacles in a city. There will be traffic.
There will be construction. Or any other number of other
things that get in the way of fire trucks. So you need fire trucks that can manoeuvre
around obstacles. Not this.
But trucks aside, there are so many ways to make a city better, while also allowing
better access for emergency vehicles. Wide bicycle lanes are best for cycling,
because they allow people to pass and to ride side-by-side.
As I mentioned, these wider bike paths can be used by emergency vehicles.
And while consistently wide bike paths should be the priority,
some parts can be built with flexi posts which can be driven over by emergency vehicles.
That’s what these posts are meant to do. They’re supposed to be driven over.
Here’s how I’ve seen manufacturers advertising them at traffic engineering trade shows.
Although the cheap ones don’t always pop up like they’re supposed to.
Converting car lanes to dedicated transit lanes is the best way to speed up transit vehicles,
and to get more people to use public transportation, because transit can
be faster than driving in traffic. In many cities in the Netherlands,
roads have dedicated bus and tram lanes, and these are routinely used by emergency vehicles.
And pedestrianised streets are amazing. They make for lively public spaces that are safe
and comfortable for people walking and cycling. And yet every single time I talk about car-free
streets someone responds with ‘That’s stupid! What about emergency vehicles?’
And I’m just like … [big sigh]
Car free does not mean fire-truck free. Of course emergency vehicles will still
be allowed here, and in fact they get through faster on a pedestrian street,
because there isn’t much traffic. However there is something in cities
that genuinely DOES get in the way of fire trucks, but for some reason, these same
people seem to completely ignore it. The Baltimore fire department made
this video to show how several streets made narrower by recently-installed bike lanes,
caused problems for their largest trucks. You can see how they’re having difficulty
putting the stabilisers out for the ladder trucks! Wow! This is terrible!
And look at this fire truck having problems getting through!
The driver can't even open his door to get out of the truck!
If only the street weren’t so narrow because of the bike lane!
Except, look at those videos again. What is getting in the way of the fire truck?
IT’S THE CARS! Cars are the number
one thing that prevents fire trucks from getting to the scene of an emergency, by a huge margin.
Fire trucks even get stuck on highways where there's no traffic calming,
no pedestrian areas, and no bike lanes. We also know from decades of research
that wide roads and street parking induces demand for more driving,
which causes more traffic that fills up the roads. And whether it’s a jam-packed intersection that
forces fire trucks to slow to a crawl or curb parking
prevents them from setting up their equipment, cars routinely slow down emergency vehicles.
And ultimately this is what annoys me so much about the objections from fire departments.
When there’s a proposal to install bike lanes … the fire department is there!
We can’t do that! Our fire trucks won’t fit down the street!
When cities want to narrow the streets or install traffic calming to make the roads safer … the fire
department is there. We can’t do that!
It will slow down our fire trucks! But when American cities want to remove street
parking like what was done here, in Amsterdam, Where is the fire department?
Why aren’t they out there saying, yes, we want to remove street parking too!
Because parked cars make it harder to do our job. Or when cities want to build dedicated transit
lanes, bus rapid transit, or new tram lines. Where is the fire department?
Why aren’t they out there saying, yes! Transit lanes could become our emergency
express lanes, speeding up response times! And when cities want to build car-free streets
and reduce the number of cars on the road through congestion charges or restrictions
on through traffic. Where is the fire department? Why aren’t they out there saying, yes! Cars are
the number one thing that prevents us from getting to emergencies on time!
A network of nearly car-free streets would be perfect for us to avoid traffic!
Yet somehow, instead of coming out in support of stuff like this,
the fire department only seems to show up when someone threatens the car-centric status quo.
There is more than enough evidence that things could be done better.
That cities could be safer, cleaner, quieter, and more liveable, while also
improving emergency response times. But when advocates point this out,
they’re often belittled by the fire departments who tell us we have no idea
what we’re talking about as they refuse to even acknowledge international examples of how it’s
done better, without the dangerous streets. Or they’ll give us a patronising line like,
“That’s there and this is here. Different environments call for different equipment.”
Which is the laziest possible response. But even if that were true, are you really telling
me that this environment and this environment somehow call for exactly the same kind of truck?
And that truck, for both of those environments, somehow also needs to be twice as big as the
fire trucks you’ll find in Europe? Really? C’mon. And I’m sure I will get exactly those same kinds
of comments on this video too, because I’ve received them many times before.
I’ll be dismissed as an “ignorant YouTuber,” despite the fact that I involved multiple
experts in the research for this video, And I am absolutely not the only one
pointing out these insane discrepancies between how firefighting is done in the US and Canada,
compared to how it’s done in Europe or Asia, and most importantly, without the dangerous streets.
Strong Towns has multiple articles on this topic for example, and I’ll leave some links to them
and lots of other sources in the description. Such as this article that talks about how the US
has more fire deaths than European countries, and significantly more road deaths as well. They're
clearly taking the wrong approach by every metric. And look, I don’t want to shit on fire departments
too much, because they perform one of the hardest and more dangerous jobs around, and
ultimately they're dedicated to keeping us safe. But part of keeping us safe is acknowledging
where the actual dangers are coming from. Dangers like speed-related car crashes,
getting hit by a car while cycling, or medical services arriving too late because
the truck’s too big to get through traffic. We all have our blind spots, and if all you’ve
ever known is car-dependent cities, where cars are everywhere and there’s no alternative, then I
can understand how many of these fire departments have trouble thinking of things in any other way.
And it is reasonable for fire departments to be conservative and sceptical of
change when lives could be at risk. But there also comes a time when Fire
Departments need to look internationally, and to realise that things can be done better.
We WANT firefighters to be able to do their jobs and save us from fires.
But we also don’t want lots of people to get injured or killed by cars.
So please, fire departments, work with advocates on this.
Otherwise I’m going to have to be the one to write the song Fuck Da Fire Department.
And trust me, no one wants to hear an old white guy rapping.
Fire trucks and roads are both a lot bigger in the US than in Europe, but there’s something else
that’s bigger too: the problem of data privacy. But for that problem, we have Incogni.
I started using Incogni last year after seeing them recommended in an Adam Something video.
Since then, I've been a happy customer, so I’m always willing to promote their service.
Today, personal data is scattered across the Internet.
From online shopping to job applications, your information is stored in numerous databases.
The real issue, though, is data brokers: companies that collect and sell your
personal data to whoever's willing to pay. They gather details like your name, address,
phone number, financial information, and even your social security number.
This data can end up in the wrong hands, leading to identity theft, spam, and loss
of control over your personal information. In the US, this problem is compounded by
“people search” sites that publish detailed personal profiles online.
There are many sites that expose home addresses, financial information, and even family details,
posing risks of scams, harassment, and stalking. Europeans have some protection under the GDPR,
which allows them to request the removal of their data from these databases.
However, this process needs to be done with every site, so it’s time-consuming
and doesn’t prevent your information from being added again at a later date.
But wherever you’re from, Incogni takes care of this for you.
They reach out to data brokers on your behalf, request the removal of
your personal data, and manage any objections. And they continuously follow up, ensuring that
your data stays off the market in the future too. With a yearly subscription to Incogni, you can
continuously safeguard your personal information. They even offer a Family & Friends plan,
allowing you to protect up to four people. If you’re concerned about your data privacy,
I recommend trying Incogni. You can sign up at incogni.com/notjustbikes
or use the promo code notjustbikes for 60% off an annual subscription.
Thanks for watching, and thanks to Incogni for sponsoring this video.
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