Rising Pedestrian Fatalities and Vehicle Design

From New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Will Jarvis in for Tacy Mumford. Today's Monday, june twenty second. Here's what we're covering President has asked us to do. is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand Last night, Iran and the US wrapped up their first round of negotiations over how to turn a pause in the war into a lasting peace What today really represents is the beginning of a technical negotiation that's not going to solve every disagreement, but it's going to allow us to sit together. Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. delegation in the talks, which were held at a lakeside resort in Switzerland Meanwhile, Iran is being represented by the country's spepeaker of Parliament brigier general who was a key figure overseeing Iranian forces in the war, along with the country's foreign minister, Abbas Arakji Araqqi played a big role in the nuclear deal Iran struck with the Obama administration about a decade ago And the leader of the U. S. side in those talks called him a quote, very tough negotiator Coming out of the negotiations this weekend, some of the thorniest issues, including sanctions on Iran and the country's nuclear program, remain unresolved But mediators said there was some encouraging progress that included a temporary line of communication to help ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, along with what they described as a new effort to wind down the fighting in Lebanon The conflict there between Israel and the Iran backed militia Hezbollah is one of many potential trip wires that could threaten the fragile sixty day ceasefire between Iran and the U. S. that was announced a week ago Another factor that could complicate things is President Trump, who issued new threats against Iran this weekend Even as Vance was talking about turning over a new leaf told Fox News that after the ceasefire expires, he can do, quote, whatever I want as of this morning. It's not clear exactly what the next steps in the peace talks will be According to Iranian State media, the country's top officials are now on their way back to Tehran, but more technical discussions are continuing in Switzerland on the national Mall The reflecting pool, one of the key pieces of President Trump's effort to remodel the nation's capital, is rapidly deteriorating Pool has suffered from leaks and algae blooms for decades. And earlier this year, the administration gave two companies no bid contracts to carry out renovations One was for a firm with ties to Trump, which repainted the bottom of the pool. And the other company, which worked on the water purification system, is directly connected to a Trump donor who lives next to Mar a Lago But since the companany's finished their work, the algae has returned turnurning the pool soupy and green and large chunks of the new paint have started floating to the surface Over the weekend, President Trump claimed without evidence that vandals had caused the problems, and the Times spoke to one man who was arrested three time Olympian who said he'd just stopped by to have a look at the pool during a bike ride, reaching down to touch a bit of the peeling paint when he was taken into custody and charged with destroying government property he said quote I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time the White House and U S. Park Pice did not respond to requests for comment On social media, Trump said he'd met with contractors on Saturday to discuss the state of the reflecting pool and that the problems had become so severe that the pool would likely have to be at least partially drained for repairs again Every decision I've taken has been about putting the country I love first That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party In London this morning, British Prime Minister Kir Starmer announced his resignation. And I will do everything I can ensure an orderly handover of power. Starmer took the post in twenty twenty four after the left leaning labor party won an election that was dubbed a loveless landslide Since then, the party has struggled to deal with economic stagnation, government debt, and underfunded defense and healthcare systems. and the country has faced a growing wave of anti immigrant populism Against that backdrop, Starmer was increasingly seen as weak and indecisive polls showed he was one of the least popular prime ministers in modern British history Now, he could be replaced as soon as next month. with his most likely successor being Andy Burnham. a former mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham is also a member of Labor But many lawmakers in the party think he's more authentic and charismatic than Starmer. and would be able to bring new energy to British politics political expert there told the Times that, quote, if the sausage isn't going to change Burnham might at least add some sizzle For decades, American roads were steadily getting safer for pedestrians. But around two thousand nine, the trend reversed. and since then, pedestrian fatality rates have increased by nearly eighty percent. And that increase is unique to the United States. Other countries haven't seen a similar surge, suggesting that possible culprits like the rise of smartphones don't tell the whole story So what happened Michael Keller is an investigative reporter at the Tes. He says that Americans' taste for big trucks and SUVs may be killing pedestrians as more and more people trade in their sedans for larger vehicles as part of the Times investigation. Michael and his team poured through accident records and car schematics crunched nearly a decade's worth of data. and built visual simulations of crashes with dummies When hit by a sedan, the dummy is first struck in its lower body, below its center of gravity, sending it over the hood and often onto the windshield In contrast, when the dummy's hit by the truck, it's hit above its center of gravity It's knocked violently to the ground and is dragged under the vehicle And that difference in hood heights can result in two wildly different types of crashes and injuries The result of being hit by a vehicle with a taller hood is that you're more likely to have serious injury or more likely to be killed. Michael says that hood height is not the only problem As vehicles have gotten bigger and heavier, manufacturers have made their frames thicker that weights and keep people inside safe that has made blind spots worse. in some cases way worse, with the bigger frame around the windshield completely blocking pedestrians from view during left hand turns Taking all this into account, my colleagues estimated that if today's vehicles were roughly the same size as they were two decades ago Up to four hundred pedestrian lives would be saved each year in the US In response to questions from the Times, automakers said blaming larger vehicles for pedestrian deaths overlooks other issues like the design of American roads. And they said that new technology designed to detect and avoid pedestrians would help improve safety the full investigation, including how car companies are now making nearly all their profits from bigger vehicles Go to NYTimes. com And finally I do laugh when I'm in rehearsal because it helps them K know where the audience is going to laugh and where the writers are going to James Burrows The master of the TV sitcom and the director behind many of America's most famous shows, like Cheers and Will and Grace, has died at eighty five Known as the Steven Spielberg of sitcoms, Burrs won eleven Emmys and directed more than a thousand episodes of TV. This is everybody. This is Chandler and Phoebe and Joey. And you you remember my brother Ross I've done everything from friends to Frasier. L on a nervous wack. I gott do something to calm down. D' on espresso please son of a Broadway playwright, Berz got his start in the theater before realizing he could use his skills in TV, since sitcoms were basically short plays in front of a camera His career exploded in the early nineteen eighties when he helped create a sitcom about a bar in Boston. Everybody knows your name Afternoon everybody! He directed almost all two hundred and seventy five episodes of Cheers, including Its last ever. which was one of the most watched finales in TV history What's most remarkable about Jimmy Burrroughs was that he had impeccable taste in terms of what was funny. When he looked at a page, he could tell what would get laughs. And when he was in the room shooting, he could tell the take that would work. He could tell where the body should be in space for the jokke to land My colleague, Alexis SZalosski is a culture reporter for the Times She says beyond his natural instinct for comedy. Burs also had a gift for nurturing actors and turning individuals into ensembles. Part of his genius was that on the surface, it seemed like he worked on a lot of workplace sitcoms. Cheers is a workplace sitc. Taxi is a workplace sit com. News radio, one of my favorites. That's a workplace sit com His idea was that no, these aren't workplace shows. theseese are family shows. And that is what he felt he did. He felt that he made families Those are the headlines Today on the Daily, a look at the growing movement in the U.S to derescribe get patients off of antidepressants You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Will Jarvis. The headlines will be back tomorrow with Tracy Mumford