Barbara McCann might have been the first person to notice that the Federal Highway Administration had removed several safety policies from public view.
uncertain
Administration → notice → view
McCann worked on road safety policy at the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) for more than a decade across multiple administrations, retiring in January 2025 just before Donald Trump’s second term started.
asserted
term → work → January
After Sean Duffy, the president’s ally and former Fox news host, took the wheel at USDOT, she became increasingly worried as the secretary appeared unmotivated to address pedestrian safety and regularly bashed bike infrastructure.
asserted
secretary → take → infrastructure
It was typical bullying behavior, she thought.
asserted
she → think → ?
“You pick someone who’s vulnerable and attack them,” McCann said.
asserted
McCann → pick → them
“They decided that bicyclists are vulnerable and that they could use that as a political wedge.
uncertain
they → decide → wedge
It didn’t seem to have anything to do with actual safety.”
asserted
It → seem → safety
In a country where traffic deaths far surpass its international counterparts, that could be deadly.
uncertain
that → surpass → counterparts
Shortly after he was confirmed to the post, TV personality turned politician Duffy signed orders last year to end what department officials called “woke policies” from the Biden administration and ensure that “all USDOT policies, grants, loans, and actions are based on sound economic principles, positive cost-benefit analyses, and pro-economic growth priorities”.
asserted
policies → confirm → principles
“Remember when Biden and Boot-edge-edge used YOUR MONEY for DEI bike lanes and climate change?
asserted
Biden → remember → lanes
THAT’S OVER,” Duffy posted on X in July, saying he had diverted $1.73bn in USDOT grants “away from Biden-era DEI pet projects” and toward roads, bridges and ports.
asserted
he → ’ → roads
Amid that push, the department and its sub-agencies have been scrubbing information about safety measures from government websites that officials had deemed effective, and focused on building policy aligned with a rightwing, anti-immigrant agenda instead of research.
asserted
officials → scrub → research
The department removed five suggestions from a “proven safety countermeasures” list by the Federal Highway Administration: bike lanes; road diets, which involves reducing car lanes, often to make space for a bike or bus lane; plus three speed management tools, including automated camera enforcement and variable speed limits.
asserted
which → remove → enforcement
Webpages that provided information about pedestrian and bicyclist safety have also been deleted.
asserted
that → provide → safety
Improving safety is listed in one order as a benefit USDOT “may include” in decision-making “to the extent practicable”.
uncertain
USDOT → improve → extent
Duffy has vowed that his agency is “committed to making our roadways safer and bringing down the number of fatalities”.
asserted
roadways → vow → fatalities
“We’re taking a closer look because the Trump Administration supports transportation systems that benefit Americans, including the nearly 80% who rely on cars to get where they need to go safely and efficiently,” a USDOT spokesperson wrote in a statement.
asserted
spokesperson → take → statement
But transportation safety experts who spoke with the Guardian, including one former USDOT official, are raising concerns that federal officials are ignoring decades of science-based evidence to put a car-obsessed Maga ideology in the driver’s seat, which could make getting around more dangerous for everyone.
uncertain
getting → speak → everyone
Roads in the US demonstrate an unwelcome kind of American exceptionalism: they are deadlier for the millions who use them every day than those in dozens of other high-income countries.
asserted
who → demonstrate → countries
Duffy highlighted the scale of the problem in his department’s 2026 safety strategy.
asserted
Duffy → highlight → strategy
“Despite encouraging trends over the past few years, we estimate that 36,640 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2025”, Duffy wrote in a letter leading the document.
asserted
Duffy → encourage → document
“Millions more were seriously injured.”
asserted
Millions → injure → ?
But experts say the actions he has taken aren’t in line with the evidence of what keeps roads safe.
asserted
what → say → roads
After Duffy’s “DEI bike lanes” remark, McCann checked FHWA’s website and saw that several “proven safety countermeasures” had been deleted (an internet archive maintains the previous list here).
asserted
archive → check → list
For McCann, the purge of science-backed strategies to address speeding – a key factor in nearly a third of fatal crashes in the US each year – was “just gobsmacking”.
asserted
purge → back → US
One of those tools to manage speed, automated speed cameras, capture the license plate of a vehicle exceeding a posted speed limit by a significant amount and mail a citation to the registered owner.
asserted
One → manage → owner
A growing number of communities are installing the technology on their streets – often in school zones – because they work, as FHWA’s website previously said.
asserted
website → grow → zones
Jessica Cicchino, a senior vice-president of behavior and infrastructure research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit research organization, said it was concerning that speed cameras, which are “really effective at bringing down serious injuries and fatalities”, are no longer promoted by federal authorities.
asserted
which → say → authorities
“If you really believe as an agency that your job is to make safety a priority, then we need to have those resources that tell states and cities the best ways to reduce fatalities on the roadway,” Cicchino said.
asserted
Cicchino → believe → roadway
The number of people killed by drivers while walking and biking has risen sharply in recent years, even before Duffy took over the agency.
asserted
Duffy → kill → agency
Pedestrian killings jumped 72% between 2009 and 2024, while cyclist deaths increased 73% from 2010 to 2024, according to federal data Cicchino’s organization gathered from USDOT.
uncertain
organization → jump → USDOT
But she noted another issue that is troubling researchers: instances of federal databases disappearing with little explanation as to why.
asserted
databases → note → why
That includes the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS), which is maintained by the FHWA and features complex data on traffic crashes and roadway characteristics in several states.
asserted
which → include → states
It was taken down last year and is still missing.
asserted
It → take → ?
In a statement provided to the Guardian, FHWA said the website hosting HSIS data “was down last year for a few months – while we updated guidebooks”, but remained “available upon request”.
asserted
we → provide → request
When the Guardian asked officials to share strategies aimed at fulfilling USDOT’s stated mission to build the safest transportation system in the world, a spokesperson pointed to Duffy’s “freedom to drive” initiative.
asserted
spokesperson → ask → initiative
The plan, launched in April, aims to reduce traffic congestion by “maximizing roadway capacities”.
asserted
plan → launch → capacities
Duffy sent a letter to state governors calling on them to enact his plan.
asserted
Duffy → send → plan
Duffy’s most publicized road-related campaign at USDOT is a crackdown on foreign-born truck drivers.
asserted
campaign → publicize → drivers
Earlier this year, the department issued a new rule that disqualifies truck drivers without US citizenship or permanent residency from getting or renewing their commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
asserted
that → issue → licenses
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
