In this episode, I connect with Tom Flood, as known as "tomflood1" on Twitter, who shares his story of transformation from advertising and marketing for the automobile industry to becoming a parent who is now keenly aware of just how hostile our streets are, especially for our youngest and oldest community members.

Video version of this episode

Tom first turned to Twitter to vent his frustrations but now he has an international following of nearly 16,000 and he is turning his advertising skills around to help promote safer streets for all ages and abilities.

He points out that this is really not that complicated, it just requires the political will to stop accepting that crashes are inevitable, they're not, and start making the changes to the built environment which result in an enhanced quality of life, improved sustainability, and increased economic vibrancy for the community.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
- Follow Tom on Twitter
- Here's Tom's Creative by Rovelo website
- A recent workshop Tom helped coordinate - Flipping the Script on Traffic Violence
- Crossing Guard Video (original)

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2022

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.