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July 16, 2004
Ralph Nader's enemies strike again
New Trucker Rules Overturned by Court...The rules, issued in December, allowed truckers to stay on the road for up to 11 straight hours, one more hour than they had been allowed. But they also required drivers to take at least 10 hours off between shifts, two more than before.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia wrote that the rules changes were "arbitrary and capricious." The three-judge panel said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency that imposed the rules, failed to consider "drivers' health in the slightest," as required by law.
The court, in a 3-0 ruling, was acting on a suit brought by Public Citizen and highway safety groups. The American Trucking Associations joined the FMCSA in arguing for the new rules....
The Transportation Department estimated the change would reduce deaths resulting from truck driver fatigue from 440 to 335 a year.
But safety groups and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that allowing a trucker an extra hour behind the wheel would cause more accidents, not fewer.
They pointed to studies showing that the risk of crashes rises geometrically after the 10th and 11th hour of driving.
Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook said she was "ecstatic" about the victory.
That's right, this is the same Joan Claybrook who Ralph Nader attacked relentlessly:
Claybrook is the president of Public Citizen, an organization that Nader founded in 1971. After Ted Jacobs left his position with Nader, Claybrook took over as Nader's right-hand person, and she remained his closest associate until she was appointed by President Carter to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which was created in the wake of Nader's auto safety campaign of the 1960s.Within months of her appointment to the government agency, Nader attacked Claybrook. According to a biography of Nader by Justin Martin, "Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon," Nader wrote a vitriolic 11-page, single-spaced letter that was ostensibly addressed to Claybrook but was in fact distributed widely to the media; Claybrook herself didn't even get a copy.
The letter, parts of which were published in the Washington Post, complained about delays in air bag safety regulation, certainly a legitimate concern. However, Nader went on to berate her for what he perceived as her many shortcomings, and even accused her of being more beholden to the auto industry than to consumers. She felt compelled to call a press conference to address the accusations, and Nader showed up and proceeded to badger her.
Nice move, Ralph!
Posted by Mike at July 16, 2004 04:27 PM
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