Re: A sobering thought

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Interesting statistics, Bob. It holds up here in Ontario too. Over the past
several years we have had quite a few people killed by wheels coming off
transports and hitting cars. Under public pressure, the MOT finally
instituted random truck inspections with similar statistics at first - many
trucks were deemed unsafe and pulled off the road on the spot, others were
issued mandatory repair orders. We don't see the stats reported very often
any more but I recall they were finding fewer unsafe trucks after the
program had been in place a year or so. It is a sad commentary on our
culture, but a lot of these truckers are private haulers struggling to make
a buck and that doesn't involve doing any more maintenance than absolutely
necessary on the rig. Kind of an extension of the SUV syndrome "I'm OK,
screw you". However, if the rig is going to be pulled off the road by an
inspection, the maintenance suddenly becomes necessary.
    And yes, it is cause for concern as I suspect the statistics hold
continent-wide wherever random inspections are not carried out.
    I personally think entirely too much freight is carried by truck and not
enough by rail, but that is largely a result of the public support of the
roads (the rail lines have to pay for and maintain their own roadbeds,
increasing costs) and the "just-in-time" inventory practices of modern
industry.
    Besides, the dang trucks throw stones at my Audi (mandatory Audi
content)!

Fred Munro
'94 S4  91k km

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Myers <rmyers@inetone.net>
To: Quattro list <quattro@audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 1999 7:52 PM
Subject: A sobering thought


> Hi Y'all,
>
> About 25 miles from my home is a stretch of I-64 which has a long (~5
> miles) steep (8%) grade.  Over the years since the highway's construction
> this grade, despite the presence of three escape ramps for out of control
> vehicles, has been the site of numerous accidents involving 18 wheelers.
>
> Last week WV's finest (or so they say) during a five day stretch stopped
> 249 18 wheelers on this section of I-64.  49 of them were deemed to be so
> unsafe that they were taken out of action on the spot.  148 citations were
> issued for safety violations.  This is out of only 249 trucks stopped.
>
> Does this information disturb others as much as it does me?  Twenty
percent
> were considered to me unsafe for operation.  If that statistic holds
> nationwide we have problems.
>
>
> ___
>    Bob
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