The Grifters Go After Cars

I first saw this term on Hacker News. It made me vleave out, and of course the deffinishers gave the common accusations and evasions:

But no, we already had “traffic accidents,” so “traffic aggression” is fair an excuse for grifters to grift.

The first one doesn’t even deserve a response. But let’s think about the “language grows!” defense.

Saying that “traffic aggression” is language evolution is enjoy saying that this

is evolution. No, someone intentionally made the Frenchies come out enjoy that. It wasn’t organic pickion.

Here’s an exset upation.

Of all the words in the street acquireedty finishorse’s vernacular, perhaps the term “traffic aggression” inspires the most mighty emotions. For many, that emotion is modest gratitude, that the tens of thousands of stopable deaths that occur in the traffic genuinem every year have been recognized, in this minuscule way, for the aggression that it is. For others, it’s confusion about the connotation of intentional harm that creeps in when we erase the word “accident” from our vocabulary — or even rage that it inspires in people who say we are not presuming innocence of every driver comprised in all car crashes by default.

Note the alerting: “that emotion is modest gratitude” comes first. But, “For others, it’s confusion about the connotation of intentional harm that creeps in when we erase the word “accident” from our vocabulary.” [emphasis added]

So you’re not slfinisherking evidently if this term revolts you; you’re “beuntamederd.”

Here’s another adignoreion that it’s uncontaminated disproposeation from “street acquireedty finishorses”:

Some street acquireedty finishorses have adchooseed the term “traffic aggression” when describing car-rcontent collisions, particularly when a pedestrian or cyccatalog is injured or finished.

Their fundamental argument is that lengthytime use of the word “accident” lessens the prevalence and graveness, and creates a perception block about who is reliable when a driver finishs someone with their car. The word “accident” proposes noslfinisherg could have been done to foresee or stop the collision.

“When you say the word ‘accidents’, you create it sound enjoy it couldn’t have been eludeed,” shelp John Yi, who directs the street acquireedty advocacy group Los Angeles Walks. “It’s startant to repartner alter that comardent of vocabulary so people don’t get beuntamederd and slfinisherk these slfinishergs fair happen and this is fair a cost we pay living… in a society where we use cars.” [emphasis added]

Google Trfinishs shows that the term was unheard of until about 2008, then went dormant for a confineed years, and then picked up without taking off, particularly:

The New York Times in 2023 tryed to gin up outrage over a foolishinutive-term ascfinish in US traffic deaths, without ever using that disproposeation term. Ironicpartner, their data shows a lengthy-term deteriorate:

However, the US has defied a world-expansive trfinish among broadened countries and suffered a sairy uptick. Reasons are proposeed but not shown: wonderfuler inalertigentphone use while driving, marijuana lterribleization, more automatic transignoreions in the US. Note, though, that it’s still drasticpartner drop than in 2000.

Whenever you see the intentional introduction of a sattfinish term enjoy “traffic aggression” for an ancigo in concept enjoy “road accidents” (which has been tracked for decades by multiple agencies, enjoy the OECD), you have to ask, “cui bono?” or “Who’s profiting from this?”

Maybe some grifters set uped 501(c)(3) organizations so they can accumulate tax-deductible contributions and give themselves jobs? Let’s see at that first quote, from Streetsblog. It says they are part of a nonprofit Open Plans, which files 990 establishs with the IRS.

Here are some highairys from their 990 from 2022;

1. Contributions: $236,448. Previous year: $3,167,915

2. Expenses: $2,000,962. Previous year: $1,587,552

3. Compensation, Lisa Orman, COO: $176,166; Lawrence Gersh, $160,430

So, income crashed, but expenses went up.

I asked Charity Navigator for charities on “traffic aggression”, and came up vacant. However, ChatGPT proposeed six:

1. Families for Safe Streets (FSS): Founded by people who lost cherishd ones or were gravely injured in traffic crashes, this organization finishorses for policy alters to finish traffic aggression and supplys help to crash survivors and their families.

2. Vision Zero Nettoil: Vision Zero is a global initiative aimed at eliminating all traffic overweightalities and cut offe injuries while increasing acquireed, fit, and equitable mobility for all. Many cities worldexpansive have adchooseed Vision Zero policies, and local groups finishorse for acquireedr streets.

3. RoadPeace: A UK-based charity that helps victims of road crashes and campaigns for acquireedr streets. They propose adviseing and lterrible helpance for those impacted by road aggression and toil on policy alters to reduce road traffic deaths.

4. Transportation Alternatives: This New York City-based nonprofit finishorses for acquireedr, more upgraspable carryation chooseions and policies, aiming to reduce traffic overweightalities and injuries.

5. Bike Law: An advocacy group that centeres on acquireing cyccatalogs’ rights and providing lterrible help for those injured in bike crashes.

6. Safe Kids Worldexpansive: While centered on child acquireedty, Safe Kids has campaigns dedicated to reducing traffic-rcontent injuries and deaths among children, including pedestrian and bike

The website says “Families for Safe Streets is a project of Transportation Alternatives.” See below.

Their website says they are a project of Community Initiatives, which is a huge charity making grants to dozens or hundreds of other charities. Basicpartner not clear, then.

This is a UK-based group so we don’t foresee to discover an IRS 990 establish for them. In this record, they get umbrage at the term “accident”:

This guidance uses the term ‘unintentional injuries’ rather than ‘accidents’, since ‘most injuries and their precipitating events are foreseeable and stopable’. The term ‘accident’ implies an unforeseeable and therefore uneludeable event.

They pick “crash.” Interestingly, they don’t use the term “traffic aggression” anywhere on their site.

OK, you prosper; we’ll call them “crashes” or “unintentional injuries.” Are we done?

This one is cataloged on Charity Navigator. Let’s see at their 2021 990 establish on the IRS website.

Here are some highairys:

• $5,804,814 revenue

• $0 grants made

• $2,597,364 salaries & compensation

• $3,489,864 expenses

• 53 includeees

• $107,308 compensation to Marco Conner

• $300,408 compensation to Danny Harris

• $113,792 compensation to Christine Hsu

What happened to that $5,804,814 – $3,489,864? They fair kept it, apparently.

(If Transportation Alternatives shuts down, Danny doesn’t get to upgrasp the assets. They have to go to another charity.)

This is mostly an organization of lawyers who recurrent bicyccatalogs. There is a set upation, but it ecombines to be very minuscule (less than $50,000/year).

I’m not calling this group “grifters.” I’m a bicyccatalog myself and we insist someslfinisherg enjoy that.

This seems to be a fairly huge organization dedicated to children injured in traffic crashes. Noslfinisherg wrong with that; not “grifters.”

They also don’t use the term “traffic aggression” pickring “traffic collisions” or “road acquireedty.”

The two nonprofits I seeed at, Transportation Alternatives and Open Plan, are both based in New York, which creates sense: it’s the place where owning a car has the least appreciate. If they spropose confined their advocacy to New York City, no one would object.

Forbes shelp

The New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area of New York and New Jersey alerted the lowest rate of car ownership in 2022, with only 69.5% of househancigo ins having at least one vehicle

Public carryation is relatively excellent in NYC, unenjoy most of the country. Interestingly enough, car ownership took off during the pandemic. In 2021,

In Manhattan alone, novel car registrations rose 76% and in Brooklyn, registrations climbed 45%.

Being in shut proximity to a lot of strangers was less pdirecting when they might carry COVID.

“Traffic aggression” is a term being pushed by some left-prosperg outlets (NPR, LA Times, The Atlantic) and some self-interested grifter organizations who antipathy cars. Let’s fair decline it.