Today I learned that people usually can't tell whether their respirator is leaking.
One study compared participants' perceptions of the seal with quantitative fit testing, and the mismatch was much larger than I expected.
It made me wonder how much emphasis we place on filter ratings compared with actual fit.
For the first time ever, federal firefighters in the US are being encouraged to wear respirators on the fire line. The Forest Service announced this week that N95 masks are now authorised — a major reversal after decades of not allowing them, even as research kept showing how harmful wildfire smoke really is.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/firefighters-wear-n95-respirators-policy-change-rcna351438
For the first time ever, federal firefighters in the US are being encouraged to wear respirators on the fire line. The Forest Service announced this week that N95 masks are now authorized — a major reversal after decades of not allowing them, even as research kept showing how harmful wildfire smoke really is.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/firefighters-wear-n95-respirators-policy-change-rcna351438
I've been cycling daily for over 20 years. The scariest moments aren't potholes — they're junctions.
Most drivers don't realise there's a name for that split-second panic at an amber light: the 'dilemma zone'. Do you brake and risk being rear-ended, or accelerate and risk running the red? Lower speeds give you enough distance to stop safely — the dilemma disappears.
I wrote to the Straits Times today making the case for lowering Singapore's urban speed limit from 50 to 40km/h. Not to slow anyone down — average peak-hour speeds are already 21–26km/h anyway — but to make junctions safer for everyone.
Curious what r/drivingsg thinks?
