Declarations

Big Step Forward

“This will be a big step forward in the city’s overall resiliency efforts as we prepare to deal with the future of extreme weather.”

—New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to authorize $3 billion in funding to repair and protect city housing developments damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The mayor said in his March 31 announcement that it is the largest single block grant in FEMA’s history. The grant will fund repairs and upgrades to 200 buildings in 33 New York City Housing Authority developments.

Laws of Nature

“While we can change the laws of man, we can’t change the laws of nature. When speed goes up, for every 10 miles an hour it doubles the energy released when something happens. So a small mistake becomes a big mistake at the higher speeds.”

—Troy Costales, an administrator at the state Department of Transportation, Oregon lawmakers at a public hearing that a plan to increase the speed limit to 75 mph on interstate highways might lead to more crashes and fatalities.

Prescription Drug Deaths

“More Oklahomans die from prescription drug overdoses each year than they do from car wrecks in our state.”

—Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who recently signed a new law requiring doctors in her state to check a prescription drug database before prescribing certain addictive drugs. Oklahoma’s drug overdose rate increased by nearly 400 percent from 1999 to 2013, and the state now has the sixth-highest
unintentional drug overdose death rate in the United States.

Teen Drivers

“We would support any changes that would show a reduction in youth fatalities.”

—Iowa Traffic Safety Office Bureau Chief Patrick Hoye comments on a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showing Iowa could halve its rate of fatal teen car accidents if, among other changes, the state’s licensing age was raised from 16 to 17. Hoye says the state has been working to reduce traffic deaths but doubts the age would be raised due to Iowa’s rural demographics.