If you don't know that there are a lot of trucks on Interstate 81, then you haven't driven it in the last several years. There are good and bad truck drivers, just like the people behind the wheels of passenger cars. It looks like we might be seeing some additional sleepy truck drivers.
Based on what I read in the Free New Mexican, we had better be more alert since some truck drivers won't be because the administration has once again chosen to business interests over public safety.
The government said Friday that truck drivers can stay behind the wheel for 11 hours straight without taking a rest- leaving intact a rule that truckers and safety advocates alike say is unsafe.
For 60 years, truckers could drive for 10 hours at a time. Two years ago, the Bush administration changed the rule to allow them another hour of driving time. But a federal court threw out the changes.
On Friday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced a revision to the rule that would still let truckers drive 11 hours, three hours more than safety advocates say they should.
I sure the truckers will be happy with this on top of the horrendous increase in fuel prices we've seen recently
My favorite quote from the article was, "Trucks are going to continue to be rolling time bombs on the highway." It came from Joan Claybrook, president of the safety group Public Citizen.
I know I'm not particularly happy with this, but that's the way the cookie crumbles these days.
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