Since we all know about the steam tractor, here's another goodie....

Mr. Martin Tanner and two other people were killed in Ohio today when an automobile they were riding in went off the road and crashed into a tree.

Despite volumes of government regulations, private saftey initiatives and local laws, the machine claimed the lives of the three victims.

It is not known if mechanical failure or operator error contributed to the cuase, as all the people who would know are dead.

For those of us who are automobile buffs, we should take this as a warning shot that our very beloved machines may become illegal if public advocate groups begin pressing for more stringent measures that guarantee human survival as a result of the Ohio crash. A world with no transportation, and therefore no transportation risks, may be in order.

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The above was taken from my forthcoming book: America On the Verge of Insanity: Why Special Interest Groups are Harshing My Mellow

Can you beleive we our society is so litigious and fearful, that so many of us immediately thought that the steam tractor accident is the tip of the iceberg? I had the same thought right away.

How very sad.

Inlinebob@aol.com

Naw, a big reason THAT won't happen is automakers have enough money for lobbyists to persuade (bribe) lawmakers around to their POV. (Remember the ex GM CEO who said to Congress "What's good for Chevrolet is good for America"?)
Another reason is that car accidents are so common they have become almost "background noise", nobody much notices one more, unless somebody they know was in it.
A steam boiler explosion in this day is a rarity, therefore novel, and its been a slow news week.

Knowing what I do about traction engines, I've seen an AWFUL lot of exaggerations, distortions, and half truths in the official reports. Some have been simple mistakes by people who didn't know better. But quite a bit of the ones in the last day or so looked very much like deliberate attempts at "rabble rousing", whether done as a warm up for a law reform crusade, or trying to milk out a dying (sorry) story, I dunno.

And yes, I think most of us got that "oh sh*t!" sinking feeling when they first heard. And yes, it comes back when you read the spin of some of today's stuff, especially out of the Akron papers.

IMHO: It would be a REAL tragedy if this becomes a rally cry by the media to silence the whistles of the engines those men loved.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox.

That my friend is a total impossibitlity. The government and the public will always support the automobile and the airplane. Thousands die each year in cars but nobody seems to care, one plane crash wipes out five times more people than have been killed on Amtrak in 30 years, but poeple still crowd the airports. Four people die in a freak accident that probably hasn't happened in nearly half a century, and every steam fired machine in America is threatened. Railroads and the like are easy targets, in some cases, rail and steam fans are their only defense. Now I'll get down from my soapbox.

Thanks, Taylor

thrush@smt-net.com

> Since we all know about the steam tractor,
> here's another goodie....
> Mr. Martin Tanner and two other people were
> killed in Ohio today when an automobile they
> were riding in went off the road and crashed
> into a tree.

> more stringent measures that guarantee human
> survival as a result of the Ohio crash. A
> world with no transportation, and therefore
> no transportation risks, may be in order.

Mr. Tanner & the two others would probably have survived, had their auto not struck the tree.
Since we do need transportation, perhaps we should consider legislation to OUTLAW TREES.

Hmmm... I think current trees would have to be grandfathered, but a seed ban is likely.

At the very least, I expect NIMBY groups to protest any seed plantings in their backyards, which could result in killer trees sprouting up willy-nilly about the neighborhood and threatening cars.

In addition to banning seeds, I am working on a proposal to congress which will severly restrict access to water, as I believe that some people drowned in New York last week. We cannot stand to have water in our towns if it is going to be a silent killer.

I heard about a plan in upstate New York to increase water levels in resevoirs. Someone better educate the locals of the dangers on water and start a NIMBY campaign up there.

Rob

> Mr. Tanner & the two others would
> probably have survived, had their auto not
> struck the tree.
> Since we do need transportation, perhaps we
> should consider legislation to OUTLAW TREES.

A few years back a single engine plane took off from somewhere in western Kansas one evening heading west.

Not too long after said plane slammed into a mountian somewhere west of Colorado Springs if memory serves me.

What made this newsworthy that papers in the east were carrying the story was that the family of the pilot said that they intented to sue the "owner of the mountain" as there were no flashing beacons on the mountain to warn the pilot (who of course can never be blamed for where his plane flies).

I suppose that if anyone ever rebuilds the Argentine Central that they had better put flashing beacons on the shays so that airplanes are duly warned that a train is near! ;)

Lots of Stuff
les@a-trains.com