Trump halts federal effort to combat truckers' sleep disorders

[Tanuki]

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-08-04/trump-halts-federal-efforts-to-combat-trucker-s-sleep-disorders
"The Trump administration is halting a year-old effort to seek better ways to diagnose truckers and railroad workers who have sleep apnea, a health condition linked to deadly accidents.

Two agencies in the Department of Transportation announced Friday that they will no longer pursue a regulation to combat obstructive sleep apnea, which prevents people from getting decent rest and has led to drivers nodding off behind the wheel. The federal government was considering screening truck drivers and train engineers for the disorder.
.......

The action is the latest case of President Donald Trump’s anti-regulatory policies prompting agencies to halt proposals or block rules from taking effect. The president argues that government regulations are bad for business and stifle hiring.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has been calling for better screening of truck drivers and railroad engineers since 2009. The agency is "disappointed" that the agencies withdrew the "much-needed" development of new rules, spokesman Christopher O’Neil said in an email.

It "has been in the probable cause of 10 highway and rail accidents investigated by the NTSB in the past 17 years and obstructive sleep apnea is an issue being examined in several, ongoing, NTSB rail and highway investigations," he said.

In many accidents it has investigated, it was only afterward that operators were found to have suffered from the disorder. NTSB urged agencies to do more to identify transportation workers at risk so they could be treated."......(more)

[Judi Lynn]

1. Downright evil. Who would do this, other than a monster? n/t

[GeorgeGist]

2. Gorsuck would approve.

[Mc Mike]

4. MAGA, thru more highway deaths. Pinheads.

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[n2doc]

6. Trump's jobs program. Open up positions by helping people die. n/t

[Fatemah2774]

7. Einstein is right again...

Genius has limits. Stupidity doesn't.

I do not wish to see more deaths on the highway but if there are any because of this...well let him reap the whirlwind.

Sometimes I feel disgrace and imprisonment is not enough for this administration....

[CanSocDem]

8. Actually....

...this might have been a legitimate waste of money.

The reasons for " driver fatigue" have more to do with the structure of trucking companies and the way they operate than it does with the health of a driver.

Driving a truck is tiring and stressful at times. The driver should be able to pull over and have a nap- even 30 minutes is helpful. But they can't because they have an appointment or there is no safe place to pull over. They could lose their job if they are late...

So they drive on and doze off.


.

[Tanuki]

9. That is a separate issue and is of course-also dangerous.

Re sleep apnea:

https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/sleep-apnea-warning-regulators-new-jersey-train-crash/
"Federal regulators are urging railroads across the country to test train operators for obstructive sleep apnea after the engineer in September’s deadly New Jersey commuter train crashwas found to have the fatigue-inducing disorder.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will issue a safety advisory, likely this week, stressing the importance of sleep apnea screening and treatment, CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave reports. One railroad that already tests its engineers, Metro-North in the New York City suburbs, found that 1 in 9 suffers from sleep apnea.
.......

You end up with an engineer who is so fatigued they’re dosing off, they’re falling asleep in these micro bursts and they often have no memory of it, and they’re operating a locomotive at the time, so they’re putting hundreds of people in danger,” Feinberg said.

Airplane pilots with sleep apnea aren’t allowed to fly unless they’ve been successfully treated. Regulators are also pushing for bus and truck drivers to get tested."....(more at link)

[CanSocDem]

10. With railroads...

...there is a technological fix. An automatic speed brake would have, if memory serves, prevented that NJ train crash.

Fatigue isn't necessarily a symptom of sleep apnea. But it is easier to blame the driver and ignore the weaknesses of SOP that favour the company.

Hours of Service rules in the trucking industry favour the trucking companies. In my experience the safest drivers were those who slept when they were tired.

Train operators may have to pay another driver to insure public safety. It's cheaper to blame the driver and let him/her claim SLEEP APNEA.


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