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How long truckers can drive may be reduced

When I drive long distances, I get sleepy and tired.  Don't you?  I stop and get coffee or stretch my legs or become the passenger.  Why?  Because I don't want to fall asleep at the wheel.  I don't want my senses to be so dulled that I can't react to the cars and trucks around me.

Speaking of those trucks, did you know that during the Bush administration, the regulations limiting how long truckers could drive were changed?  The Bush administration, bowing to the wishes of the trucking industry, changed the rule and allowed long-haul truckers to drive 11 straight hours.  Before that, the rule for 60 years had been that they could drive 10 straight hours.  At the same time that the driving hours were increased, the required rest time at the end of the work week was cut from 50 hours off to 34 hours off.  Why?  Because the trucking industry could make more money if its drivers could drive that extra hour and take less time off.

According to its website, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is "focused on reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses."  For some reason, it chose profits of the trucking industry over the safety of the driving public (including those truckers) during the Bush administration.  Twice, a federal appeals court struck down the rule that expanded hours for truckers and, twice, the Bush administration reinstated the rule. 

Driver fatigue is one of the causes of accidents involving large trucks.  I, for one, am glad that the Obama administration is reconsidering the present rule and its effect on our safety.