ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: What safety restrictions are they going to lift on big tractor-trailers with the new bill President Clinton signed last week that also eliminates speed limits? Are we going to be less safe on the highway because of these big trucks?
R.M., Radford
A: The National Highway System bill leaves safety rules intact on 40-ton tractor-trailers, but we could see a change on trucks in the 5- to 13-ton range.
Think of it as the Snack Attack.
Lobbyists for the Snack Food Association and one of its biggest members, Frito-Lay, convinced Congress that it was unfair to require potato-chip trucks to operate under some of the same rules as big trucks.
These regulations cover physical exams for drivers, safety checks of the trucks, maintenance files and hours on the road. Compliance with the rules costs $500 per operator.
The companies want a three-year pilot program to let them negotiate waivers from the U.S. Department of Transportation. They hope the pilot program becomes permanent.
Drivers in this class already are exempt from having commercial licenses and from federal alcohol and drug tests.
About 1.4 million trucks nationwide could be affected. Frito-Lay operates about 11,000.
Their argument is: Most trucks hauling chips, beer or bread travel about 50 miles per day, compared with the 1,000 or so a big truck may log on the interstates.
This was a $6 billion bill that also ended the national speed limit and federal motorcycle helmet rules.
State legislatures don't have to go along with those changes, but many will.
The bill gives Virginia $150 million, to be divided among such projects as widening Interstate 81 and planning the proposed I-73, plus adding lanes to I-64 in Hampton and I-66 in Northern Virginia.
New traffic light
Q: Whose idea was it to put a stop light at Hershberger and Florist roads in Roanoke? It appears to stop about 20 cars on Hershberger to let two go on Florist. It smacks of political motivations, or perhaps Friendship Manor's money.
S.L., Roanoke County
A: Money alone couldn't install this light, but politics did. Not that there's anything wrong with that - in this case, anyway.
Friendship Manor, home to several hundred older people, apparently had pushed for years to get a traffic light at its entrance.
A light there would help residents cross Hershberger Road safely to use the recreation center on the north side.
No light was justified at the entrance, and that news was delivered to about 150 unhappy residents at a meeting last spring. In attendance were most of the valley's state legislators, including Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, who represents the district.
Someone suggested an alternative: putting a light at the Florist Road intersection half a block away at the city limits.
Engineers counted vehicles and pedestrians and decided there were enough to justify the light at Florist Road.
This fact might have gone undiscovered because two legs of the intersection are in Roanoke and two are in Roanoke County. Apparently, it took some political influence to get all four legs counted at the same time.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB