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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Dangerous Drivers Keep on Truckin'

An editorial in today's Washington Post revisits the issue of truck driver safety. Last month's deadly crash on the Capital Beltway showed us how easy it is for delinquent drivers to slip through the system. The editorial chides the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for lax enforcement:

States get away with filing tardy, incomplete and faulty data, there are still opportunities for fraud in obtaining commercial driver's licenses, and testing and training standards need stiffening.

Of course, most truck drivers do their jobs safely and efficiently and federal regulations should do more to protect them. Truck driving is a profession more dangerous than it should be. Unfortunately, the industry continues to push its employees too far while the Bush administration continues to pull back safety standards and enforcement measures. The Post editorial concludes by calling for reform:

That there has been so little progress in reducing the number of people killed or hurt in big truck crashes each year argues for trying to fix a system that is still easy to game.