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DEBATE: 97-foot-long multi-truck * USA - A Four-Way Stop Sign
The safety of the traveling public demands no less, but it remains to be seen whether actually protecting voters is truly a priority for the new majority party
Washington,DC,USA -TomPaine.com, by Steven Hill (*) & Dmitri Iglitzin (*) -Feb 21, 2007: -- ... Most of the candidates are currently serving in Congress, where they could demonstrate their populism through concrete legislative action. It is noteworthy, therefore, that on at least one populist issue—the safety of the nation’s highways—all of these candidates have remained silent... The Federal Highway Administration, which oversees our nation's highway system, is about to issue a regulation allowing 97-foot-long multi-truck monstrosities to roar up and down our nation's streets. These vehicle combinations, called "saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations," or simply, "four-ways," consist of four trucks linked together, with only the first truck maintaining both its front and rear wheels on the ground. On the three other trucks, only the rear wheels touch the ground, the front resting on the truck preceding it. From the side, if one roars by you on the road, they look like elephants holding each others' tails with their trunks—only much, much larger and more dangerous... As one veteran truck driver with 40 years of driving experience put it, in testimony submitted to the FHA: "The notion that a saddlemount load, 97 feet long and consisting of four semi tractors, is safe is absurd. All four-way configurations have the tendency to cause the fourth truck to whip and sway to a certain degree. It can quickly become a very dangerous situation..." (* ) Dmitri Iglitzin is a labor law attorney with the Seattle, Wash., firm of Schwerin Campbell Barnard & Iglitzin and an Affiliate Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law.(*) Steven Hill is director of the political reform program at the New America Foundation and author of 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
Labels: multi-truck
posted by Unknown @ 2:45 PM
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