Editorial voices from elsewhere
Editorial voices from newspapers around the country as compiled by the Associated Press:
The town of Boomer, W.Va. lived up to its name when 26 cars of a 109-tanker car CSX train derailed in the middle of the night, and 19 of them were engulfed in flames, shaking residents out of their sleep and producing hours of toxic fumes.
The derailment and fire were just the latest in a string of such mishaps involving rail transportation of crude oil. But the difference this time around is that the tankers involved in their derailment and fire were a newer type built to more stringent safety specifications, and supposedly less prone to rupture.
Railroad operators and governments in both the U.S. and Canada agree that the new design is the way to go, but the Feb. 16 accident shows that physics can often trump improved design.
It’s all the more reason that North America should proceed with the expansion of pipelines for crude oil transport.
Blocking the Keystone XL pipeline and similar projects makes no sense, from either a safety or policy perspective. Oil that has been extracted and sold must be transported. Both pipelines and rail lines have a role to play, but the former are simply safer.
The murder of three young adults in Chapel Hill, N.C., is not only deplorable but was probably avoidable if strong background checks had been demanded on those attempting to buy guns.
The three young people who were murdered were neighbors of Craig Hicks, a former car parts salesman who was studying to be a paralegal at a local technical community college. He had previous problems with his neighbors over parking.
Hicks, while wearing a gun on his belt, apparently had been harassing the three young people because of their appearance. To think that a person is not intimidated when he is accosted by someone carrying a gun is naive.
The National Rifle Association, which refuses to see any possible limit in an American’s right to carry a gun, has in Hicks a supporter who used his gun to browbeat and finally to allegedly murder three young people.
A strong background check probably would have listed Hicks as a person who should not have been allowed a gun license. This might have saved three lives.
However, you can be sure the NRA answer to this killing is not to endorse background checks but to claim that the three who were murdered should have all carried guns so they could shoot back.
And, of course, gun manufacturers would thereby sell more guns.
Legislation introduced in Ohio would make it a primary offense for children under age 15 to be in a vehicle without a car seat, booster seat or seat belt. Officers could pull over a vehicle if they see a child who is not properly secured or wearing a seat belt.
It seems almost absurd that such a law does not already exist.
Children in seats that allow for proper positioning of seat belts are 45 percent less likely to be hurt in a crash. And, of course, seat belts have been saving lives in cars for decades. But despite the obvious increase in safety for kids in vehicles, some adults still neglect to buckle them in properly, or enforce fastening seat belts for older youngsters.
Better late than never for such a change. The bill appears to have wide bipartisan support. Let us hope it makes its way to the governor’s desk without hitting any speed bumps.