Safety? Who Needs Safety?

[Deleted User 8570]

We don't need to regulate truckers so that they sleep a reasonable amount apparently... one wonders how far deregulation will go? Air Bags? Seat Belts? All forms of emission control? These are all things a company would eliminate immediately without their respective regulations...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The trucking industry scored a victory this week when Republican lawmakers effectively blocked Obama administration safety rules aimed at keeping tired truckers off the highway. But there's more coming down the road.

The American Trucking Associations is vowing to come back next month, when both the White House and Congress will be under Republican control, and seek to block state laws that require additional rest breaks for truckers beyond what federal rules require. The association says there should be one uniform national rule on work hours for interstate truckers.

The trucking industry's latest win has sparked concern among safety advocates that it may be just the start of a broad rollback of transportation safety regulations once there's no longer a Democratic president to check the tendency of Republican lawmakers to side with industry.

"Unfortunately, it's going to be an open season on safety in this coming Congress," said Jim Hall, who was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board during the Clinton administration.

Besides pre-empting state laws on rest breaks, it's also likely that shippers and some segments of the trucking industry will push for long-sought goals of increasing the weight limit on trucks to more than 90,000 pounds and increasing the length of individual trailers from 28 feet to 33 feet, safety advocates said.

"It's going to be very tough because the companies really care about the cost. They don't care about the safety no matter what they say," said safety advocate Joan Claybrook.

The provision Republicans added to a must-pass government spending bill this week suspends regulations issued by the Obama administration requiring truckers to take two nights off to rest after a work week of up to 75 hours.

Truckers are required to take a 35-hour break after at the end of a work week. But the trucking industry objected to requirements that the 35 hours include two periods from 1 am to 5 am. Sleep scientists say rest during the early morning hours is critical for people to feel refreshed. The suspension means truckers can head out on the road again during those hours if the 35-hour break has elapsed.

Another regulation that prevents truckers from working 75 hours, followed by a 35-hour break, and then resume driving again in the same week was also suspended.

Truck driver Bill Varnado, 66, of Dallas, Georgia, said he likes the sleep requirement because it ensures that drivers are well-rested. He said it's hard to find places to sleep in one's rig on the road, so drivers sometimes keep going.

"Sometimes you're forced to drive fatigued because you can't find anywhere to park," said Varnado, who drives for Pro Trucking Inc. of Acworth, Georgia, during a truck-stop break along Interstate 81 here.

But self-employed trucker George Lafferty, 61, of Henry, Illinois, said Congress should repeal the rule.

"I don't see how the government can tell you when to sleep and when not to," Lafferty said during a truck-stop interview along Interstate 81 after dropping off a load of yeast at a livestock-feed plant.

"A driver should know when he's fatigued or not," he said. "If you're fatigued, take a half-hour, hour nap."

Besides truck safety, Congress is also likely to be asked to deal with a wide range of other transportation safety concerns.

The auto and technology industries, for example, are telling Congress that they fear a "patchwork" of state safety laws will hinder the deployment of self-driving cars. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials have developed voluntary guidelines for the safe design, development, testing and deployment self-driving cars that they want automakers to follow. But California's Department of Motor Vehicles wants to make the guidelines mandatory.

Some industry officials have complained the guidelines go too far and may stifle innovation. Safety advocates say they don't go far enough.

"We think it would be completely inappropriate for Congress to pre-empt the states without strong federal safety standards in place for automated vehicles," said William Wallace, a policy analyst for Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports.

"States are the ones that make the final call on whether automated vehicles should be allowed on the roads," he said. "We think citizens of those states have the right to take action to keep their roads safe."

[audiophile]

I'm not so worried a few running over hours or fudging their log book...look at his krap Obama foisted on us:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/ec ... ways_n.htm

[Turkeytop]

Air Bags? Seat Belts? All forms of emission control? These are all things a company would eliminate immediately without their respective regulations...

The Trump administration would probably mandate the removal of these features.

[screen glare]

Your sarcastic thread title inspires this:

Get rid of ALL those costly safety measures!

Crash those planes.
Poison that water.
Defile the national parks.

Drill and frack 'til your heart's content.
Poison food.
Spray pesticides at will.


Get rid of vehicle safety.
And safety on carnival rides.
No helmuts for any sport.

No swimming or diving equipment regulations.
Pilot your boat while drunk.

Get rid of smoke detectors.
Stop fire drills.
Let young kids work in factories, again.
Chain the fire doors.

Sell the most dangerous fireworks in all fifty states.
Smoke at gas pumps.
Text and drive.
Same for driving while drunk.

Fly drones at airports.
Flash lasers there, too.
Silence tornado warning sirens.
Get rid of hurricane / earthquake codes.

Sell more guns and remove each safety.
No gun background checks.
Add more gun shows!

Paint over crosswalks.
Smash OSHA standards.
Prescription and OTC drug safety? No more.

Asbestos as a building material? Encore!
Safety inspections? Not on Trump's watch.

The incomplete list of expensive safety rules and regulations should be torn up and tossed away.
Hell ... what's one or one-million more dead Americans? Mom, Dad, the kids, grandma, grandpa? All expendable.

Without those high priced safety rules and regs just think of the money to be made! And the number two thing Donald Trump cares about is MONEY.

Number one is HIMSELF.

Number three HIS kids - by Ivana.

[audiophile]

The regulations on glue sniffing must have already been lifted.

[Bryce]

I would like to remind the pro regulation crowd of the 50 million deaths world wide because of the misguided ban of DDT.

[Bryce]

The regulations on glue sniffing must have already been lifted.

I was wondering if pot got legalized whilenI wasn't looking.

[sgt schultz]

I'm not so worried a few running over hours or fudging their log book...look at his krap Obama foisted on us:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/ec ... ways_n.htm

Logs are getting more and more difficult to fudge, as the industry is rapidly moving to electronic log books. This is a great thing, IMO, as it gives Motor Carrier Officers a great tool.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/elec ... industries

audiophile, regarding our friends from south of the border, you may find this interesting from the above article:
"Canadian- and Mexican-domiciled drivers will also be required to use ELDs when operating on U.S. roadways".

More info about the devices and rules
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service ... ng-devices

[Lester The Nightfly]

Your sarcastic thread title inspires this:

Get rid of ALL those costly safety measures!

Crash those planes.
Poison that water.
Defile the national parks.

Drill and frack 'til your heart's content.
Poison food.
Spray pesticides at will.


Get rid of vehicle safety.
And safety on carnival rides.
No helmuts for any sport.

No swimming or diving equipment regulations.
Pilot your boat while drunk.

Get rid of smoke detectors.
Stop fire drills.
Let young kids work in factories, again.
Chain the fire doors.

Sell the most dangerous fireworks in all fifty states.
Smoke at gas pumps.
Text and drive.
Same for driving while drunk.

Fly drones at airports.
Flash lasers there, too.
Silence tornado warning sirens.
Get rid of hurricane / earthquake codes.

Sell more guns and remove each safety.
No gun background checks.
Add more gun shows!

Paint over crosswalks.
Smash OSHA standards.
Prescription and OTC drug safety? No more.

Asbestos as a building material? Encore!
Safety inspections? Not on Trump's watch.

The incomplete list of expensive safety rules and regulations should be torn up and tossed away.
Hell ... what's one or one-million more dead Americans? Mom, Dad, the kids, grandma, grandpa? All expendable.

Without those high priced safety rules and regs just think of the money to be made! And the number two thing Donald Trump cares about is MONEY.

Number one is HIMSELF.

Number three HIS kids - by Ivana.

I was all set to admonish you but I see you included drug safety.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/30 ... ikes-nerve

If you enjoy the business model of software being rolled out without much in the way of a rigorous beta test prior to release, you're going to love the medications that will make their way into use by your wife, kids, and family members should this Silicon Valley investor with no medical background gets the job of heading up the FDA.

BTW - President Cheetos fans, don't bother with your blowback, I'm done with you. I've come to accept that there's absolutely nothing I or anyone else can say that will acknowledge what you've gotten us into, so enjoy the fruits of your victory. Oddly, I know I will since my marginal tax rate paid will be dropping to the tune of about $1M over the next couple of years. As the old saying goes, when the shit hits the fan the wealthy bail out or go underground. I'm well into the process of doing both.

Good luck to those without that luxury. Perhaps those folks benefiting from some of the yearly five figure charitable contributions I'd been making that decided to metaphorically kick me in the balls by either by not bothering to vote or casting their vote against their own interests will learn the valuable lesson that elections matter. My conscious is clear and I'm sleeping like a baby at night. Just like Trump.

[Bryce]

when the shit hits the fan the wealthy bail out or go underground. I'm well into the process of doing both.

Bye bye Lester The Fruit Fly. I will miss your pithy posts. They have always been a source of joy for me. More.than that really. A compass. For I knew if your ire was raised, I was.on the right track with my convictions.

Godspeed!

[screen glare]

Convictions? Your convictions convict you, Bryce, as a fake news readin', Brietbart believin' , "just get even" troglodyte. That crap you posted about Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the ban on DDT killing children has been proven false. Check out Yale University's take. And others. Back to your cave, man.

[Bryce]

Me, I'll take the word of the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan:

"Above all, the spread of Zika, the resurgence of dengue, and the emerging threat from chikungunya are the price being paid for a massive policy failure that dropped the ball on mosquito control in the 1970s."

[screen glare]

Yeah, Bryce. You'll take her word, alright. Out of context, that is. And what does "dropped the ball" mean regarding policy? Does it mean they banned "toxic to a fare thee well" DDT - and didn't replace it with something that could kill mosquitoes without rendering species of birds extinct and poisoning humans?

Rachel was right.

And YOU'RE flaming right - which means DEAD wrong. As usual.

[audiophile]

I DDT should have been kept around for limited cases like this.

You need all tools in your toolbox.