Security & Safety Briefs - June 9 - June 15
The Latest Headlines:
- States Often Give 10-mph Cushion on Speeding
- President Stumps for Patriot Act Renewal
- U.S. Checking on Possible Second Mad-Cow Case
- Justice Dept. Says FBI Snafus Hampered Pre-9/11 Work
- President Stumps for Patriot Act Renewal
States Often Give 10-mph Cushion on Speeding
Authorities patrolling U.S. highways often give motorists a cushion of up to 10 miles per hour above the speed limit before pulling them over, according to a survey of state traffic safety officials.The practice can lead to a potential safety hazard, according to a report released Monday by the Governors Highway Safety Association. It found that 42 states allow drivers to regularly exceed the speed limit before they are stopped.
Since 1994, 38 states have increased their speed limit, the report said. Starting in 1995, Congress allowed states to raise limits above 55 miles per hour in urban areas and 65 mph on rural roads, the Associated Press reported.
President Stumps for Patriot Act Renewal
President Bush said Thursday that Congress should make provisions of the USA Patriot Act permanent, news services reported.Without the renewal of the law, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, efforts to stop future terrorist attacks would be imperiled, the president said.
ush spoke to 150 law enforcement officers in Washington, but his main audience was members of Congress who are deciding now whether to extend and expand the law, set to expire at the end of this year, USA Today reported.
The Patriot Act sets everything from new powers to police and the FBI to fingerprinting regulations for truck drivers who haul hazardous materials. Transport Topics
U.S. Checking on Possible Second Mad-Cow Case
A second possible case of mad cow disease in the United States might slow beef and hamburger sales, Bloomberg reported Monday.Tissue from the suspected animal is being tested by a laboratory in England, and the results are expected as early as this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday, Bloomberg reported.
USDA said more tests were needed on the suspect animal after initial analysis was inconclusive. A first U.S. case of the disease was discovered in Washington state in December 2003.
Trucking companies that haul beef could see smaller profits if other countries banned U.S. beef, as some did following the first case. Japan is the largest overseas market for U.S. beef, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. government has put some restrictions of Canadian beef imports in the past year due to several cases of mad cow disease in that country. Transport Topics
Justice Dept. Says FBI Snafus Hampered Pre-9/11 Work
The FBI missed at least five chances in the months before Sept. 11, 2001, to find two hijackers preparing for the 9/11 attacks, according to a Justice Department Inspector General’s report issued Thursday, news reports said.Investigators were hampered by bureaucratic obstacles, communication breakdowns and a lack of urgency, the report said, according to a New York Times story Friday.
The findings mirrored those of the Sept. 11 commission last summer and a 2002 joint Congressional inquiry in 2002 but also provide new details about the bureaucratic breakdowns that plagued FBI before 9/11, the Times said.
The FBI’s cumbersome computer system, which still has problems today, did not automatically forward an agent's memorandum to bureau officials who were supposed to receive copies of it, the report found. Transport Topics
