Mineta Begins Safety Review

Thirteen people are helping former U.S. Rep. Norm Mineta develop a plan to improve truck and bus safety.

Mineta and his advisors met for the first time April 9 and are scheduled hold a similar meeting April 23, said Mineta's spokesman Tom Edick.

Mineta's advisors include representatives from trucking, law enforcement, labor and safety groups as well as the insurance and bus industries.

In addition to the two meetings, Mineta will confer individually with his advisors and with representatives from the Department of Transportation, its affiliated agencies and other interested parties.

During the initial two-hour meeting, held at a DOT training facility in suburban Virginia, Mineta outlined his mandate from Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, which is to gather input from a variety of parties on how to improve highway safety (2-22, p. 3).

"The questions to be addressed include: Is motor carrier safety focused on the right things? Should improvements be made and, if so, what should be done to achieve the sole purpose of reducing fatalities and injuries?" Edick said.

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