Web 57DHYAFZZFLYQ July 16 2026 Vision If Indoor Residential Wood Burning treated like Drunk Driving

There are no Clean Air Days in the Capital City when wildfire wood smoke invades the Capital City. 

Clean Air Days are called in some West Coast cities when wildfire smoke invades, and indoor wood burners in those West Coast cities are asked to refrain from fireplace or indoor residential wood

burning on those days. Indoor Residential Wood Burning prevention cannot just focus no getting more people home safely.  The lack of safety occurs in the yards and infiltrates the homes of near neighbors. The lack of safety is lack of public health measures that address preventable actions of air polluters

that negatively affect the health of near neighbors, resulting in predictable illnesses and

early deaths of near neighbors.  A venting system for indoor residential wood burning may seem

 a solution for indoor residential wood burners themselves, but an effective venting system

 only shunts the air pollution from wood burning to the yards and infiltrates the homes of near neighbors.

Next month, the Capital City plans to introduce a pilot program offering subsidized rideshare costs for people drinking at Twenty or so partnering bars to help reduce the risk of driving afterward. The pilot

 is modeled after one in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania which offered Forty Dollars off a ride per person.

In Harrisburg, residents jumped at the opportunity and depleted project funds. It feels like Vision

 Zero in the Capital City is one of the only cities that is actually tackling impaired driving through this carrot. We recognize that there is this alcohol culture. A lot of people view alcohol in a permissive way. We want to work together on accountability in a way that feels like we are meeting people where they are at. Sticks could include regulation of the sales tax of beer, reduction of the number of alcohol permits issued per capita, substance use programs and locks on ignition after violation of some limits.

What Statistics in the report drove this effort? The Capital City vision for safer streets only includes addressing Drunk Driving.  In Two Thousand Twenty, the Capital City launched its Vision Zero initiative

 to improve traffic safety. The Capital City is the only city addressing impaired driving from a public health and traffic engineering perspective, said the city’s impaired driving reduction coordinator, who works within the Traffic Engineering Division of the Capital City to address intoxicated driving in the community and statewide. Her position is funded through Two Thousand Twenty Eight. The Capital City released the latest Vision Zero progress report this summer. The impaired driving reduction coordinator acknowledged the impact the drinking culture in the Capital City has on public and traffic safety, especially downtown where a higher concentration of bars and other places are serving alcohol. Last year, impaired driving crashes involved male drivers at more than double the rate of female drivers, according to city data.

Male drivers ages Twenty One to Forty Four in the Capital City were suspected of drug or alcohol use the most, based on citations issued by police. There is this pretty significant drinking culture here.

In general, we approach it through impaired driving. We’re centered around reducing harm.

We have to put in safety measures to make sure that they just get home safely. The state Department

 of Transportation data from Two Thousand Twenty Four mirrors the trends city officials are reporting

in the Capital City, showing male drivers were three times more likely than female drivers to be suspected of driving impaired. Impaired drivers ages Fifteen to Thirty Four accounted for about Forty Percent of all drivers in car crashes that year. People ages Twenty Five to Thirty Four represented the largest group

of people who died due to impaired driving, while those 65 years and older were the smallest group.