----- Original Message -----
From: "John D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 7:26 PM
Subject: Mexican Trucks Re: *DO* we share a civilization?
> At 11:03 PM 7/28/01 -0500 Dan Minette wrote:
> >According the Houston Chronicle, the issue was that Bush wanted to allow
> >Mexican trucks to go on US roads uninspected for 18 months. If I
understand
> >correctly, the problem isn't that there is a higher standard that they
must
> >adhere to,
>
> Hmm.... that differs with the Washington Post's take on it, which
> carachterized it as requiring higher standards for Mexican trucks.
>
> Additionally, the Washington Post did not seem to indicate that the
> Democrats' bill would ever permit Mexican trucks into the country.
According to
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nyt/20010727/ts/senate_backs_strict_safety_test
s_for_mexican_trucks_in_u_s__1.html
it would require that the trucks pass a safety check before they are allowed
on the roads. Bush's plan gives an 18 month grace period. Canadian trucks
have a lower failure rate than US trucks, about 15%, so that seems like a
pretty good reason to allow them in.
Lott's comments about the Democrats voting against Hispanics seems to
indicate the real reason for the vote. The Hispanic vote is crucial to the
future of the Republican party.
>
> its that they have been found to have a higher frequency of
> >failure than Canadian or US trucks when inspected. I can understand
> >grandfathering in another country's inspections, but it doesn't seem too
> >unreasonable for a country to cross check inspections to see if they are
> >comparable.
>
> Mexican trucks do have a 40% failure rate. American trucks, however,
have
> a 25% failure rate.
It would also be instructive to see the source of the failures. In Texas,
cars have a very high failure rate at the annual inspection, but pass after
some very minor thing (such as a minor crack in a tail light). What are
Mexico's trucking regulations? Do they compare to that of the US?
>
> At any rate, however, this seems very much akin to racial profiling.
> Democrats have always held that the fact that African Americans are more
> likely to commit crimes does not permit extraordinary measures to prevent
> crimes by African Americans that even minorly impose costs on non-criminal
> African Americans.
>
I think that there is a difference between racial profiling blacks where
innocent people are stopped because of their race and deciding that the
inspection process for country A is close enough to that practiced in our
country so that we can accept their inspections as valid, while considering
country B's inspections to be to a lower standard.
> >Do you think it is wrong to hold Mexican trucks to the same standards as
US
> >trucks?
>
> They should be held to the same standard in all respects. Any Mexican
> truck that can pass an American inspection should be allowed to operate in
> America immediately.
>
If you first line includes following safety regulations for truckers hours
etc. I would totally agree with you. Bush's comments seem to indicate that
they should be allowed to be on US roads unchecked.
Dan M.
