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What should Iowans know about how NAFTA affects highway safety?

By Steve Lombardi

Here we sit in Iowa at the confluence of two major highways, I-80 and I-35. Whether you get it or not that's meaningful in terms of our economy and in terms of highway safety. Busy Iowans regularly jump on those interstate highways to make their in-town travel plans materialize faster and smoother. But we never think twice about where those double bottom semi-trucks that are weaving from line to line next to us came from or where they might be going.

We make the assumption each truck is 'legal'. But is it? Is that assumption you make a sensible one? I've asked attorneys from Texas, Oklahoma and Minnesota who are familiar with highway safety to join me in exploring safety issues on I-35. Today we have Beth Janicek from Texas with an eye-opener about NAFTA and trucks coming in from Mexico.

Beth Janicek posted today about semi-trucks coming in from Texas on I-35. Apparently I-35 is the major entry point into the United States for freight traffic coming in from Mexico. Here is her article.

Who's driving that semi-truck on the Interstate heading towards my family?, Beth Janicek, InjuryBoard

I didn't know that and perhaps you didn't either. Whether you did or didn't you need to read what Attorney Janicek has to say about safety violations and how many of these trucks coming in from Mexico fail federal highway inspections. I have to wonder how this affects us in Iowa. I-35 runs from Texas to Duluth, Minnesota. Are these trucks that may be deficient in terms of safety measures, driving across Iowa. This world economy has its limits to what benefits we see. Our lives under NAFTA, like our economy, are being devalued.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBmFrYWPoG8

NAFTA: Pros and Cons

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: NAFTA Rules and Regulations – There are two zones, the commercial zone and that zone beyond it. I need to learn more about this and would suggest you do the same. Perhaps Beth's future posts will tell us more about the two zones where semi-trucks operate. One question I have is do trucks coming in from Mexico drive as far north as Iowa and if so have they been inspected? How can we tell whether a truck on Iowa's I-35, I-80, I-235 or I-380 is from south of the border? How can we tell if it's been inspected?

My concerns here are the same as they were last week when I posted about driver fatigue and how it affects the interstate highway safety environment.

Did driver fatigue play a part in causing a horrific crash on I-80 in PA?

Steve Lombardi | January 11, 2010 12:01 PM

Jeremy has a pretty good post today about trucking industry driving tips for adverse weather.

Trucking Industry Driving Tips for Adverse Weather Conditions

Jeremy Thurman | January 14, 2010 5:05 PMOklahoma City, OK

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on January 15, 2010 (boomark / email).