Re:Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train...
by Spooky23 on Tuesday February 14, 2023 @12:06PM
(#34792385)
The problem is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I have friends in this industry so I have more context than most.
Railroads were a sleepy corner of the world for a long time, until business types realized that trucking had peaked out from a capacity perspective. These companies are all chasing higher return on assets at all costs.
Motor carriers are much better regulated than rails because the railroads are all consolidated and they can hook themselves to politically powerful industries like coal and oil.
As the parent stated, roads are regulated more effectively and strictly. If you are a CDL driver with a carrier with lots of violations, you can lose your license for a minor brake violation or even a torn seat. That creates a market dynamic where drivers refuse to drive for shitty carriers.
This feels like a motte and bailey. A quick skim of the comments in this thread that people are equally worried about the health impacts from the accident specifically, as about the general plight of railway workers and/or the state of safety on railways. The NPR article also largely talks about health impacts from the specific accident rather than systemic safety issues. I'm not saying that people aren't outraged about the systemic safety issues on railways, but it's pretty clear that the main thing on people's mind is the immediate environmental impacts.