Subject:
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Re: All important (was: Amtrak Told to Plan Liquidation)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 10 Nov 2001 22:07:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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412 times
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Ross Crawford wrote:
>
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> >
> > How do you carry such a morbid calculus (which is more important, the
> > passengers of the vehicle or the population at large? What a question! They
> > all are!). Ick.
>
> Sorry for bringing it up again, but this is exactly why I think it's unfair to
> lumber plane passengers with the entire cost of "global security".
Why shouldn't we? Why should someone who rarely or never flies pay so
that folks like Larry can fly once a week or more (not sure how often
Larry flies, but he's a good example of a very frequent flyer here)? If
aircraft are truly that dangerous a form of transportation, then perhaps
alternatives need a fair shake (as Larry mentions in another post, it
would be awfully hard to turn a passenger train into something capable
of doing anywhere near the damage of an aircraft plowing into a sky
scraper (a freight train carrying hazardous materials is a different
story, though probably still pretty safe - for example, at our local
nuclear power plant, they have a display on the transportation of
nuclear fuel by train and truck, which shows the container surviving a
full speed train collision with a truck [I forget if the container was
on the train or the truck, it was either on the train and the truck was
a fuel truck, stuck across the tracks, or it was on the truck, stuck
across the tracks]).
Of course, probably comparatively more dangerous than a train carrying
hazardous material are all those trucks driving around with gasoline or
propane, though it would take a lot of work to commandeer enough to do
the same kind of damaged a well orchestrated crash of a freight train
carrying chemicals could do. But then the truck could be driven into the
front of a big building, I wonder how many sky scrapers are proof
against a fuel truck driving through the front doors?
The more the costs are distributed to the actual place of cost, the more
the market will be able to solve the equation for the best overall
quality of life.
Frank
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