It's understandable though. These are inherently political questions and people are locked out of that process. And there really isn't an objective solution t

It's understandable though. These are inherently political questions and people are locked out of that process. And there really isn't an objective solution to balancing those factors I have worked in air quality assessment and you see something similar. A single development usually has statistically negligible effect on air quality. No measurable impact on health. But that isn't really the whole story. Vehicle exhaust absolutely does effect health. It is understandable that people object to that on a specific case by case basis even when tacitly consenting at a societal level But mostly I think safety is used as a proxy for other things. Adding a lane to a highway can have a safety justification even when the real purpose is something else. Everyone is lazy, and the degree we allow a sense of entitlement changes over time.