The Atlanta Objective: Patrols and Pandering

At least three people are dead in the last month after vehicle chases by cops. If the goal for stepped-up street enforcement is a safer Atlanta, then I question whether more chases help or hurt.

Much of our behavior during the pandemic confounds easy analysis. Consider traffic to start.

America hit peak driving miles per year in February 2020. Collectively, we drove about 3.3 trillion miles in the 12-months prior. And then most of us started to stay home. The rolling 12-month average fell to 2.8 trillion miles, a 15 percent decline in a year, t…