KUOW⁠73%

After a pandemic spike, traffic deaths are trending down in WA ⁠54%

By Patricia Murphy⁠0%

6/2/2026, 12:00:00 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 10 faulty reasoning types, including Post Hoc (False Cause), Ambiguity (Equivocation), and Loss Aversion, with Attempt to Sell a Product or Service as the most egregious example at 15.8% saturation with 25 hits. Analysis detected 174 faulty-reasoning hits from 158 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 52.2% and a BS Rank of ⁠54% (10,163 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 53.60% of the article peer group.

Roads in Seattle and in Washington state can be dangerous places - for pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers. 
After peaking in 2023, traffic fatalities around the state are slowly trending down. 
We'll hear from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission about why, and where the state can go from here. 
And make sure to join us this Saturday for a live taping of Seattle Now where Patricia Murphy will interview King County Executive Girmay Zahilay at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival. 
Get tickets here. 
Use promo code SEATTLENOW to access a 20% discount. 
We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. 
Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. 
Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? 
We want to hear from you! 
Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 2.3%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.8%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 5.6%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.9%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.4%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.9%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 9.4%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect0.0%This article: 13.9%Patricia Murphy: 2.1%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion13.9%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.4%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 6.3%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect6.3%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 5.5%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 2.9%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 11.4%Patricia Murphy: 6.8%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias11.4%This article: 6.3%Patricia Murphy: 1.2%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias6.3%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.6%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 2.3%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.7%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 4.9%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 8.2%Patricia Murphy: 1.2%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias8.2%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.0%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 11.4%Patricia Murphy: 8.9%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority11.4%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 1.0%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.7%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.5%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 7.0%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 2.1%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 4.3%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.5%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 15.2%Patricia Murphy: 1.7%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)15.2%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 4.2%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 15.2%Patricia Murphy: 1.4%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)15.2%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 2.2%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.0%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 4.7%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 6.3%Patricia Murphy: 1.2%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination6.3%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Patricia Murphy: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 15.8%Patricia Murphy: 5.6%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…15.8%

158 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker11%attributed speech140writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWashington Traffic Safety Commission • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
18 attributed words100% of attributed speech55% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -17.9 ptsWriter: 17.9%Washington Traffic Safety Commission: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-7.1 ptsWriter: 7.1%Washington Traffic Safety Commission: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.