Security & Safety Briefs - July 28 - Aug. 3
The Latest Headlines:
- Truckers Slowed by Vermont's I-89 Repaving
- Louisiana Cuts Highway Plans
- Pennsylvania Reports Higher Seat Belt Use
- Minn. Becomes Last State to Lower DWI Limit
- Third U.S. Cow Being Tested for Mad Cow Disease
- Louisiana Cuts Highway Plans
Truckers Slowed by Vermont's I-89 Repaving
A repaving project on a 16-mile stretch of Interstate 89 in northwestern Vermont between South Burlington and Richmond would mean longer trips for the 3,800 truckers that pass through the area daily, due to a lower speed limit, according to the Vermont Agency of Transportation.Interstate 89 connects the Vermont-Canada border with Interstate 91 on the New Hampshire border and ends at Interstate 93 in Concord, N.H.
Vermont officials confirmed to Transport Topics that work on the project started July 21 and would widen the exit 12 ramp in Williston to prevent traffic from backing up onto the interstate.
Louisiana Cuts Highway Plans
The Louisiana Department of Transportation said it would scale back plans to overhaul one of its most important oil highways, after the low bid on the project came in $98 million above state estimates, the Associated Press reported.The route, State Highway 1, is the only road connecting Port Fourchon on the Gulf of Mexico with Interstate 49, AP said.
By revising the state’s plans, officials said they hoped to give contractors more time to meet the deadline and generate more bidders by advertising the project nationally.
Originally, the state wanted to spend $153 million to elevate the highway, which carries roughly 1,000 trucks per day. Currently, the highway is susceptible to floods, and officials fear a strong hurricane could destroy the route entirely, AP said.
Transportation officials said they hoped to solicit new bids for the project between December and February, but could not say when construction would begin or how long it would take. Transport Topics
Pennsylvania Reports Higher Seat Belt Use
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler said July 27 that seat belt use this year has reached more than 83%, the highest rate seen since PennDOT began surveying safety belt use in 1988.This year's seat belt rate of 83.3% topped last year’s 81.8% rate, PennDOT said. The department estimates that with every percentage point increase in seat belt usage, eight to 12 lives will be saved.
While we are encouraged by the increase in the state's seat belt use rate, PennDOT, along with our other safety partners will continue to deliver the vital message about the importance of wearing a seat belt,” Biehler said.
He credited a host of agencies including state and local police, Buckle Up PA, the state’s Department of Health and several coalitions for helping to deliver the message about the importance of wearing a seat belt.
In 2004, 578 unbuckled fatalities occurred on the state's highways. Transport Topics
Minn. Becomes Last State to Lower DWI Limit
Minnesota became the last state to drop its driving-while-intoxicated blood-alcohol limit to 0.08% Monday, giving the United States a uniform standard, the Associated Press reported.Even though the state has a reputation for being tough on drunken drivers — automatically revoking licenses when a person is arrested or refuses a breath test, and making it a felony to get a fourth DWI offense in 10 years — the state lagged when it came to adopting the limit, lowered from 0.1%, AP reported.
Backers began pushing for the lower limit in the 1980s but ran into opposition from the liquor industry and people who objected to the federal threat to dock highway funds for states that did not adopt the uniform standard of 0.08%, first approved 22 years ago by Utah.
The lower limit reduces drunken driving deaths on average by 5% to 8%, according to an analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Transport Topics
Third U.S. Cow Being Tested for Mad Cow Disease
A cow being tested for a third U.S. case of mad cow disease never entered the food supply, the Associated Press reported.The animal had complications while giving birth and died on the farm where it had lived, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said July 27, AP reported.
Unlike in the previous two confirmed U.S. cases of mad cow disease, this cow did not go to a slaughterhouse or feed mill; it was burned and buried after a local veterinarian removed brain tissue for testing, AP said.
Testing indicated the disease may have been present in the cow. USDA is conducting further tests at its laboratory in Iowa and is sending tissue to be tested in England.
Of the two previous U.S. cases, one involved a native cow, while an earlier case was from a cow imported from Canada. That prompted a ban on Canadian beef imports which an appeals court lifted last month. (Click here for previous coverage.)
