![]() ![]() Studies are beginning to suggest that fumes from cars, trucks and other modes of transportation can have a significantly negative effect on human mental acuity, emotional state and overall intelligence. Public health officials warn of yet another potentially devastating by-product of high traffic volume and congestion: harmful vehicle emissions being released into the atmosphere. High-volume vehicle emissions and public health consequences ![]() The resulting fatigue can lead to hazardous inattention while driving, mistakes in driver judgment and diminished response time, all key factors in an alarming number of traffic accidents. ![]() An unintended side effect of this trend is that drivers are spending ever-increasing amounts of time behind the wheel, leaving home earlier and returning home later than ever before. Firefighters, ambulance drivers and police are all too regularly thwarted in their efforts to provide a swift response to serious situations simply because they are unable to navigate clogged roadways as quickly as circumstances demand.Īs urban sprawl continues to grow, commute times are growing longer and longer and a greater volume of vehicles utilize road infrastructure across southern California. Impatience and anger on the road all too often result in dangerous tailgating, ill-advised lane changes and, in an unacceptable number of cases, injury accidents and worse.Īnother ancillary effect of heavy traffic in urban areas such as Los Angeles is the difficulty posed for emergency response vehicles attempting to reach critical scenes in which immediate assistance is required. Heavy traffic can cause road rage that leads to collisions or confrontations. In addition to the financial costs of traffic delays, researchers suggest that there are numerous other harmful effects of congestion on those regularly caught in freeway gridlock. Array of dangers posed by traffic congestion The overall cost of this world-leading congestion volume came to roughly $9.7 billion, as measured by wasted fuel and motorist time. According to the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard, drivers in the region were stuck in traffic jams for an average of 104 hours per year, a figure representing 12.7 percent of their total time spent in the car. traffic receives dubious recognitionĪ recent study released by transportation analytics firm INRIX confirmed what many have long suspected, namely that the region has the worst urban traffic congestion anywhere in the world. Not only is the daily aggravation caused by traffic jams actually detrimental to the overall health of motorists, but traffic congestion can pose many serious, even fatal risks. Anyone who has ever hit the road in the Greater Los Angeles area will attest to the overwhelming traffic congestion that characterizes even the shortest of journeys. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |