Hightower Lowdown

The Bushites are determined to increase corporate power even if it kills them...or you! Eager to serve the giant trucking firms that have given George big campaign contributions, Bush's acolytes at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration keep trying to jimmy the rules of the road in ways that fatten trucker profits, wear out drivers, and endanger everyone sharing our roads. This is no small issue, for some 100 people die and more than 2,000 are injured every week in crashes involving large trucks. A major cause of these casualties is truck-driver fatigue. So, Congress directed the trucking regulatory agency to make safety its number-one priority and to revise the rules to decrease crashes caused by fatigue. In 2003, the Bushites issued their new rules. Astonishingly, the rules increased the length of time a trucking corporation could make its drivers stay behind the wheel, raising the limit from 60 hours a week to 77. That's 11 hours a day! The watchdog group Public Citizen sued, and in 2004a federal appeals court struck down this irresponsible rule. In 2005, however, under heavy lobbying from the industry, the agency essentially reissued its old regulation allowing seven consecutive, 11-hour days on the road. Again, Public Citizen sued--and now a second appeals court has overturned that. The industry says that long hours make it cheaper to move stuff across the country. Yeah--unless you're one of the 5,000 people a year who pay with their lives! Public Citizen: www.citizen.org.