Free Republic

While we wait for an official inquiry into the possible correlation between the COVID vaccine and sudden death syndrome, a more pressing COVID-related probe was recently taken on by a group of Canadians whose research linked vaccine hesitancy with a high likelihood of — are you ready? — traffic accidents.Research studies are fine, but making a statistical correlation between COVID vaccination and car accidents is about as convincing to the sane as blaming Amtrak derailments on people with toenail fungus or oil spills on tinnitus. What next? Vaccine status will dictate who gets a driver's license? Yup.Published this month in...

An irate motorist was caught on camera attacking an NYPD traffic agent after he was ticketed in Brooklyn on Monday, police said. The male agent was issuing a parking summons to the suspect’s vehicle in front of 1602 Avenue Z in Sheepshead Bay just before 1 p.m. when the confrontation occurred, cops said. Surveillance footage provided by the NYPD shows the man, who wasn’t in his car at the time, holding his arms out in disbelief before approaching the agent on the sidewalk and getting inches from his face. The agent can be seen shaking his head at the motorist...

Bright orange scooters now share — and sometimes command — Pittsburgh’s sidewalks. They’re an integral part of the Move PGH pilot project, the city’s plan to bundle transit options to help residents get around without owning a car, whether by bus, bike, scooter, zip car or more. Statistics reported by Move PGH, a year into its two-year pilot, are encouraging: People have taken more than 576,000 scooter trips for a total of hundreds of thousands of miles. They have biked tens of thousands of miles, and ridden Scoobi mopeds for more than 14,000 miles. Experience has dispelled Initial fears about...

Some drivers may be confused or intimidated by roundabouts, those circular intersections where all traffic circles to the left until motorists find their exit to the right. But drivers better get used to them — the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is sold on the improved safety and traffic flow roundabouts provide and expects to install more of them to replace traditional intersections that use traffic signals or stop signs. The department last week released a study that reviewed 36 roundabouts that had replaced traditional intersections for at least three years. It found that deaths at those locations dropped to just...

The number of people killed on U.S. roadways fell slightly from April through June, the first decline in two years as pandemic-era reckless driving appeared to ease. But the government says the number of deaths remains at a crisis level. Estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that 20,175 people died in crashes from January through June, a 0.5% increase over the same period last year. Yet the second-quarter decline ended a string of seven straight quarterly increases that began in the summer of 2020 with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The agency estimated that 10,590 people...

Video sharing platform Rumble has broken records in August, increasing monthly active users to 78 million. This, the platform reports, is a 77 percent year over year growth. Much of that growth came from Gen Z users, between the ages of 18-24. That growth was strong in the US and Canada, as well, with a 63 million increase, or a 103 percent year over year growth. “When you look at the data, and especially our 63 million MAUs in the US and Canada, it is clear to me that Rumble’s growth is one of the reasons that Big Tech platforms...

Police reportedly arrested a parolee in Maryland on Monday when he became agitated while pleading with a group of climate change protesters who were blocking traffic. On July 4, climate protesters wearing yellow vests completely blocked traffic on the I-495 beltway in Montgomery County, Maryland, to demand that President Joe Biden declare a “climate emergency.” In a video that has since gone viral, a man claiming to be a parolee exited a vehicle and pleaded with the protesters to let him pass, alleging that he would be sent back to prison if he was late for his job. “One lane,...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - As the 100 deadly days of summer moves forward, we wanted to take a look at how one recently passed state law is affecting drivers. The ‘move right’ law, or as many call it the ‘slowpoke’ law. “If you are traveling on a controlled access highway, you should stay out of the left hand lane unless you are passing or overtaking a car,” said Corporal Joe Hovis, with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

AMARILLO, TX—A local woman stunned critics Friday by successfully executing a record-breaking 37-point turn in front of Lawndale Elementary School on Bivins St. The driver, identified as Cheryl Alessa, only held up traffic for 12 minutes as she performed the daring expert maneuver. Alessa dropped her kids off for school on 25th Ave and then proceeded to make a wrong turn in a northward direction. To avoid a minor delay on her way to a yoga class she promptly initiated the 37-point turn on the packed street. Bystanders began laying on their car horns and raising their voices at the...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is choking truck traffic across the U.S.-Mexico border to get Mexico’s government to help block the migrant flood invited by President Joe Biden’s border chief, says Todd Bensman, a Texas-based expert at the Center for Immigration Studies. “If Texas wants to back those trucks up severely, they can do it as much as they want,” Bensman told Breitbart News. The point is to get governors and mayors in northern Mexico where the maquiladoras [oursourced U .S outsourcing factories] are, to start complaining to [Mexican President Andrés Manuel López] Obrador, and Obrador is then going to...

Construction on Interstate 35W between North Tarrant Parkway and Eagle Parkway has officially crossed the half-way mark. The project, from public-private partnership North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners, is improving existing toll-free lanes and building two toll managed lanes in each direction. North Tarrant Infrastructure is the general contractor on the project. “This latest project on 35W is on track and will produce extra capacity and congestion relief north into Denton County by late 2023,” said Francisco Galdeano, COO of North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hundreds of truckers and other motorists who have been doing rolling protests on highways encircling Washington made their way into the nation’s capital Monday, snarling already-congested traffic in a demonstration against COVID-19 mandates and other grievances. The DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency issued a traffic advisory shortly before 2 p.m. that suggested motorists delay travel or use alternative transportation “due to ongoing demonstration activity on I-395, I-695, and I-295.” The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department closed a number of streets and exits off the highways to prevent the protesters from coming into the city. “These...

Jersey City officials and a coalition of Hudson County bike groups have opposed the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s plans to widen the Hudson County extension through Bayonne and Jersey City to the Holland Tunnel and replace the aging Newark Bay bridge. The opposition is based on concerns the project won’t alleviate congestion and would create more traffic and air pollution from vehicles cutting through Bayonne and Jersey City neighborhoods when traffic backs up on the extension. Bike advocates have a powerful ally, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who had a letter sent on the city’s behalf, asking the Turnpike Authority...

Elon Musk’s The Boring Company is moving ahead with plans to build underground tunnels for cars in a bid to relieve clogged roads and highways in Miami and Texas. Musk’s firm has submitted a plan for a 6.2-mile underground transit system in South Florida where commuters would take Tesla vehicles that would carry them between seven stations. The North Miami Beach Loop includes stops along State Road 826 between Golden Glades Transit Center and Sunny Isles Beach at Newport Pier, according to Business Insider. The goal is for the system to carry between 7,500 and 15,000 passengers per hour, according...

A manhunt was underway in Harris County, Texas, early Sunday after a sheriff's deputy was shot dead during an apparent traffic stop in the southwest region of Houston, officials said. The victim was identified as Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, a 12-year veteran of the force. "This has got to stop," Constable Ted Heap said during a news conference at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

MIAMI (WSVN) - Groups of dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle riders and bicyclists have taken over South Florida roadways in a return to a dangerous annual tradition on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 7SkyForce HD hovered above the the riders on off-road vehicles as they headed south from Broward County and into Miami-Dade, just before 5 p.m., Monday. The bikers were seen cutting into traffic, popping wheelies and performing other stunts. Bicyclists were also seen taking part of the event. Several dozen were seen riding alongside cars on Interstate 95. At one point, a rider abandoned his dirt bike in...

Drivers were stuck on an interstate near Washington, D.C., after a major snowstorm struck the East Coast. Hundreds of drivers were stuck on Interstate 95 in Virginia for hours, with some claiming to have been there for over 19 hours after one of the state's largest snowfalls in years. The jam was so bad that "some people were seen abandoning their vehicles in snow-covered travel lanes, walking down I-95 to parts unknown," according to WTOP traffic reporter Dave Dildine, describing the incident as a "worst-case scenario."

After years of work, shifting lanes, blocked exits and delays, the I-4 Ultimate Construction project is finally almost done. The new system will bring new lanes and tolls, and will offer a road that should be safer and faster. Advertisement Lynden Turnquest works for Truly Nolen, and for more than six years he's weaved his way through construction, hoping for relief, but not betting on it. "Once it opens up and the construction is done it'll be like WOOHOO!!! And then it's back to traffic again," Turnquest said. But how did we get to the point where officials felt we...

The cost to construct the Southern Beltway from Route 22 to Interstate 79 has been high — and it’s not just the $900 million price tag. Construction of the 13-mile highway disrupted lives, livelihoods and the environment along the path it carved through the countryside. The most extensive damage occurred in southern McDonald, Washington County, where reshaping the terrain initiated or exacerbated flooding problems that ended up chasing several families from their homes. We can say that the Turnpike Commission should have been more careful, and we have. But the truth is that there are always unintended consequences when excavating...

The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) said today it will begin work this weekend along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE), in an effort to extend the life of the triple-cantilever roadway that runs underneath the Brooklyn Promenade. Crews will begin work Friday evening, but the real impact on traffic will be felt Monday, when DOT plans to reduce the number of lanes on the portion of the expressway from Atlantic Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge from three to two in both directions. The agency warned drivers to expect construction-induced traffic jams, and suggested they take public transit instead. Trucks and...