How American Fire Departments are Getting People Killed

Summary

The 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 It highlights how oversized American fire trucks, influenced by outdated regulations, necessitate excessively wide streets that actually increase traffic speeds and accidents.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• 🏙️ Urban planning and street design in the US are hindered by outdated fire department regulations that prioritize large vehicles over pedestrian safety.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

00:00

🚒 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.

05:04

🛑 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.

10:05

🔧 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.

15:09

🏗️ 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.

20:11

🚦 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.

25:14

🚔 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.

Keywords

💡Firefighters

Firefighters are individuals who are responsible for extinguishing fires and rescuing individuals from dangerous situations. In the video, they are portrayed as heroic figures with cool gear, but the script also challenges the notion that they are always the best equipped for every emergency. The video points out that less than 4% of fire truck calls are for building fires, suggesting that their role has expanded beyond firefighting.

💡Pedestrian deaths

Pedestrian deaths refer to the fatalities that occur when a person walking is struck by a vehicle. The script highlights a crisis in the US where pedestrian deaths have increased by 77% since 2010, indicating a significant road safety issue. This statistic is used to underscore the need for better street design to prevent such fatalities.

💡Street design

Street design encompasses the layout, features, and functionality of roads and public spaces. The video argues that American street design is fundamentally dangerous due to excessively wide roads and high vehicle speeds, which contribute to the high rate of pedestrian deaths. The script suggests that the size of fire trucks influences street design, making roads unnecessarily wide.

💡Regulations

Regulations are rules or directives made and maintained by an authority. In the context of the video, outdated fire department regulations are criticized for hindering the creation of safer streets. The script implies that these regulations contribute to the size of fire trucks and, by extension, the width of streets.

💡Emergency response

Emergency response refers to the actions taken to address urgent situations, such as medical emergencies or fires. The video discusses how fire trucks are often the first to respond to a variety of emergencies, not just fires, due to the availability of fire trucks over ambulances in some areas. This leads to the oversized equipment being transported to incidents that may not require it.

💡Bike lanes

Bike lanes are designated paths on roads or streets intended for use by cyclists. The script mentions that the installation of bike lanes has been opposed by fire departments in various cities due to concerns about the width of the streets for their trucks. This opposition has led to the cancellation or reduction of bike lane projects, impacting road safety and sustainability initiatives.

💡Roundabouts

Roundabouts are traffic calming measures where vehicles circulate in one direction around a central island. The video argues that fire departments oppose the implementation of roundabouts because they believe it would slow down their response times. However, the script suggests that roundabouts can actually improve traffic flow and potentially reduce emergency response times.

💡Defibrillators

Defibrillators, specifically automated external defibrillators (AEDs), are devices that deliver an electric shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm during a cardiac arrest. The script suggests that making AEDs publicly accessible, as is done in the Netherlands, can improve cardiac arrest survival rates and is a measure that fire departments should support.

💡Car-free streets

Car-free streets are urban spaces where motor vehicle traffic is restricted or prohibited. The video addresses misconceptions about emergency vehicle access on car-free streets, clarifying that emergency vehicles, including fire trucks, are still allowed and can benefit from the reduced traffic. The script argues for the safety and livability benefits of such streets.

💡Data privacy

Data privacy refers to the protection of personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. While not directly related to the main theme of the video, the script mentions data privacy as an issue that is larger in the US compared to Europe, and it promotes a service that helps protect personal data from being exploited by data brokers.

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  

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I recommend trying Incogni. You can sign up at incogni.com/notjustbikes  

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Thanks for watching, and thanks to  Incogni for sponsoring this video.