SAN MATEO (KPIX 5) – A transition to zero-emission vehicles nationwide would have a major impact on air quality and the health of residents in the Bay Area and across California, according to the American Lung Association’s “Zeroing in on Healthy Air” report .

The report is based upon the idea that all new passenger vehicles sold by 2035 are zero-emission, and all new trucks and buses sold by 2040 are zero-emission.

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The ALA’s findings reveal California would see $169 billion in public health benefits, and a change would result in up to 15,300 deaths.

“In the San Francisco Bay Area, we see over $40 billion in public health benefits by 2050 through this transition. That comes out to about 3,800 lives saved, over 100,000 asthma attacks avoided, and over 500,000 lost workdays avoided because the air would be cleaner in the Bay Area,” said Will Barrett, the ALA’s National Senior Director for Clean Air Advocacy.

Nationally, the transition would generate more than $1.2 trillion in health benefits and $1.7 trillion in climate benefits by 2050.

Barrett explained the study focused on the public health benefits of getting off of fossil fuels.

“There are thousands and thousands of premature deaths every year in California due to air pollution,” Barrett told KPIX 5. “There’s a wide range of negative health consequences associated with unhealthy air. It’s everything from minor irritation – like coughing and wheezing – to more serious health emergencies, like asthma attacks, heart attacks, and strokes. Breathing in particle pollution can cause lung cancer.”

Amy Primus, who owns an electric vehicle, thinks the American Lung Association’s report is just one more reason to make the switch to electric.

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“We should become electric with all vehicles and trucks because it’ll make a huge difference in air quality, standard of life, and all of that,” she said.

The Zero Emission Transportation Association issued the following statement to KPIX 5 in response to the ALA’s report:

“Fossil fuel-powered transportation is dangerous, causing thousands of illnesses and deaths each year. Luckily, there is a healthier way for us to go about our daily lives. The American Lung Association’s new “Zeroing in on Healthy Air” report proves that point. If we transition to electric vehicles powered by clean electricity, we could save 110,000 lives over the next thirty years. We could also avoid $1.2 trillion in public health costs and more than $1.7 trillion in environmental costs.

Importantly, because we know that the burden of breathing unhealthy air is not shared equally among people, this report also investigated the 100 US counties with the highest percentages of people of color. Despite representing just 3% of US counties, these counties could experience approximately 13% of the benefits of electrification—or $155 billion in avoided health and environmental damages.

The benefits of electrifying the transportation sector are unequivocal and vast. With more than 100,000 lives and trillions of dollars on the line, Congress must act now to pass President Biden’s clean energy agenda. This plan will jumpstart electric vehicle adoption in the US by driving down consumer prices, expanding the EV charging network, and electrifying our high-polluting heavy-duty fleets.”

Barrett said there’s a long way to go over the next few decades, but the process will have a major impact on air quality and public health as it unfolds.

“We know there’s a long way to go, but we also know there’s active policy action right now,” he said.

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Under an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom, California will halt sales of new gas-powered cars and passenger trucks by 2035.

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FREMONT (CBS NEWS) — Tesla is recalling nearly 579,000 vehicles in the US because a “Boombox” function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians.

The recall is the fourth made public in the last two weeks as US safety regulators increase scrutiny of the nation’s largest electric vehicle maker. In two of the recalls, Tesla made decisions that violated federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others are software errors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website Thursday that the cars and SUVs have what Tesla calls a “Boombox” function that allows drivers to play sounds while the vehicles are moving. This violates federal safety standards that require pedestrian warning noises for electric cars, which make little noise when traveling, the agency says.

Read more on CBSNews.com>>

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One by one, Waymo vehicles piled up at the end of an otherwise sleepy intersection in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood.

The cars lurched to a halt, as if confused by the sign blocking their path, as they gave a strange mechanical hum. Then they did a U-turn, reversed, and headed south on 15th Avenue toward California Street, where they had come from.

A video shared by KPIX Thursday morning shows the Waymo cars performing the repetitive (and admittedly hilarious) dance that has puzzled neighborhood residents for weeks. The incident also caught the attention of Elon Musk.

Haha

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2021

“There are days when it can be up to 50 [cars]“Resident Jennifer King told KPIX. “We talked to the drivers, they don’t have much to say unless the car is programmed and they just do their job.”

The autonomous white SUVs with a blue and green W are ubiquitous in the neighborhood and across San Francisco as they gather traffic and other road map information, though it’s unusual for so many of them to get stuck at the same time. However, the cause of the jam is pretty simple.

“We are constantly adapting to the dynamic road rules of San Francisco. In this case, cars traveling on 15th Avenue north of California will have to turn around due to the signs for Slow Streets on Lake, ”a Waymo spokesman told SFGATE in a statement. “So the Waymo driver followed the same road rules that every car must obey.”

The section of Lake Street between 2nd and 28th Avenues was approved as permanent Slow Street on August 3 by the board of directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Cars are only allowed to travel less than a block down Slow Street before reaching their destination.

Lake Street was established as a permanent Slow Street on August 3, causing Waymo vehicles to stop and turn around.

Amanda Bartlett / SFGATE

By Thursday noon the hustle and bustle seemed to be over. Only a couple of moving trucks blocked the intersection, and there wasn’t a single Waymo vehicle in sight – until about 10 minutes later I spotted one of the cars traveling west along California Street even though it wasn’t trying to turn right on 15th Avenue .

Waymo said it is currently restricting cars on the road.

No Waymo cars here – the road was mostly clear until Thursday afternoon.

Amanda Bartlett / SFGATE

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SAN JOSE (KPIX) – A small but intense fire fueled by the heat wave and wind destroyed two cars and injured their owner on Thursday evening.

“This fire was moving very quickly, we were lucky we were a few blocks away with another incident and were releasing units when we saw the column of smoke,” said San Jose Fire Capt. Mitch Matlow. “We are currently seeing the types of fuel moisture that we would normally see in September or October before that.”

Matlow said the drought robbed the moisture normally found in vegetation this time of year, causing fires to spread aggressively. He said there was concern about the potential for fast moving, aggressive fires ahead of the July 4th holidays and warned the public to think twice about setting up illegal fireworks.

Thursday’s fire burned McKee Road and Highway 101 vegetation near the exit. It came near a couple of houses.

Neighbors said the burned homeowner tried to protect his cars and property. The fire burned part of the fence he had just built, neighbors said.

“Then he went back to try and get things from his house,” said Brian Cromosini.

Brian and his brother Chris Cromosini took action when they saw his neighbor had burns on his arm.

“I said, ‘Let me get you some water, everything to drain,’ because he had second degree burns, it was pretty bad,” Cromisini said.

The couple also ran across the street to an elderly neighbor’s house to spray water on her back yard where they saw smoke.

“You couldn’t even see anything, my eyes were burning,” said Chris. “But do what you can to help, I think.”

Residents of the cul-de-sac next to the vegetation on the highway said the area burns every year and the bushes are never cut. Nobody knew exactly who owned the property. KPIX called CalTrans to ask if the agency owns the property. A spokesman said they would look into it.

“On the other hand, it will happen again,” said Al, not wanting to give his last name. “You don’t do anything, you know. Every year the same.”

“It’s pretty frustrating, but also kind of scary, because they have kids here,” said Melissa Cromosini. “It’s every year. That’s the worst thing ever, and that’s pretty bad. Two cars and the guy is lucky he got out. “

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but local residents agreed what would have happened if the vegetation had been preserved.

“We were able to help something, we can be really grateful for that,” said Cromosini.

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Many metropolitan departments strictly limit shooting to moving vehicles, but dozens of fatal incidents keep occurring

ELIZABETH CITY, NC – U.S. law enforcement agencies – including in major cities like New York and Denver – strictly limit shooting to moving vehicles because they consider the practice ineffective and not worth the risk to human lives.

But dozens of shootings still happen every year – with deadly consequences – because many departments continue to give officers too much leeway to open fire, according to groups advocating stricter guidelines.

Last month, sheriff’s MPs fatally shot and killed an unarmed black man in his car as he appeared to be driving away in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. MPs were released Tuesday by a prosecutor who said Andrew Brown Jr. used his BMW as a “deadly weapon”.

Proponents of police reform say officers should only fire when deadly force other than the vehicle is used or to stop terrorism. And while not all law enforcement experts agree, the issue is among the many practices under investigation in light of the nationwide demands for police reform and racial justice sparked by George Floyd’s death in police custody last May.

Several cities, including Phoenix, have had stricter policies in place since June 2020, and other cities are considering it, according to advocacy group Campaign Zero. Cities that are already severely restricted include Las Vegas, Miami, and San Francisco.

The North Carolina body camera footage shows six Pasquotank County Sheriff MPs surrounding Brown’s car with guns drawn while they serve drug-related warrants in his Elizabeth City home.

The video shows one of the MPs putting his hand on the driver’s door and then screaming and pulling back while Brown pulls back. Seconds later, the same proxy appears to be in the way of the car when Brown drives forward.

The deputy avoids a direct hit after pressing his hand on the hood of the moving car and quickly moving to the side. Gunshots can then be heard and officers appear to continue firing as the car moves away from them. Brown was killed by a bullet in the back of the head.

District Attorney Andrew Womble, who showed the footage at a press conference, said the shooting was justified.

“If you use a car in such a way that the officers’ lives are in danger, it is a threat,” said Womble. “And I don’t care which way you go – forwards, backwards, sideways. I don’t care if you are stationary. And neither do our courts or our jurisprudence. “

Rev. Al Sharpton, who praised Brown at his funeral, said in a statement that Womble’s justification was “bizarre” and “inconclusive”. Kirk Rivers, an Elizabeth City community activist, said MPs “turned the car into a weapon by standing in front of them.”

Some law enforcement experts say shooting at moving vehicles should be avoided.

“If someone doesn’t shoot cops in the car, you can get the car another day – but you can’t get that life back,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit independent group that studies police issues.

“The whole idea is not putting yourself in a position where you feel like you have no choice but to use lethal force,” Wexler said. “We don’t want police officers standing in front of cars to risk their lives. And we don’t want them to shoot vehicles to risk lives. “

The Pasquotank County Sheriff’s use of force policy states that MPs should avoid a car instead of shooting at it “when it can be done.”

The directive also states that an MP should only fire if he “reasonably believes that no other reasonable means are available”.

Wexler said such a policy gives MPs too much leeway to put themselves at risk – and open fire. The rules must be “very restrictive and be accompanied by training courses”.

In a 2016 report, the Police Executive Research Forum called for strict restrictions on shooting vehicles unless other violence is used. A reduction in the number of deadly violence resulting from New York politics has been cited.

City police shootings fell from nearly 1,000 a year in 1972 to 665 the following year, “and have since declined steadily to less than 100 a year today,” the report said.

New York City changed its policy in 1972 after an officer shot and killed an 11-year-old boy who was escaping in a stolen car. The city of Denver made a similar change after a 17-year-old girl was fatally shot while driving a stolen vehicle towards an officer in 2015.

Earlier this year, Phoenix introduced a stricter policy for shooting moving vehicles. It makes an exception when there is a threat other than the vehicle itself. And it makes an exception for obvious acts of terrorism.

Samuel Sinyangwe, data scientist and co-founder of Campaign Zero, said 55 people were killed by police last year in situations where a moving vehicle was the only suspected threat.

“Every year we track 50, 60, 70 people who are killed by the police in these situations,” said Sinyangwe.

When officers shoot moving vehicles, criminal charges are rare. Phil Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University, said he has known 11 police officers in the United States since 2005 who were charged with murder or manslaughter after they shot someone they claimed to have used their car as a weapon.

However, some law enforcement experts argue that on rare occasions, officials need leeway in which to save their own lives or others.

“We can’t imagine every scenario,” said Brian Higgins, public safety advisor and former New Jersey chief of police. “They just don’t know if an officer has no choice.”

Higgins, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said internal investigations and state and federal investigations also hold officials accountable.

“Making an automatic blanket statement that this should never happen is not feasible,” he said.

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia.

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