Trump Administration rolling back rail safety regulations - 2017

@BackyardShaman It's a good point. And accurate. Even if that brake requirement was in place it wouldn't have applied to that specific train. But my understanding is the brakes were only part of what was rolled back. Regular, visual safety audits is an example. And when you look at who was running the show at the DOT under Trump, most of them were regulating industries they previously advocated for. No additional safety regulations were passed during that administration. It was about money. So while finger pointing is what it is, and the full report isn't complete, I do see this as an example of actions having consequences.

@BackyardShaman The Trump admin, by getting rid of safety rules, increased the probability of train accidents involving High Hazardous Flammable Unit Trains (HHFUT). This train had maybe 50 flammable and toxic cars, while 70 are needed to to trigger the electronic brakes requirement. BUT. If the Obama regulations had been in effect, there might have been electronic brakes fitted on the flammable cars anyway, thus preventing the disaster.

We can't know the outcome of every counterfactual hypothetical, but we do know Trump moved the probabilities in the wrong direction.

@ElwoodBlues I’m in agreement, my comment illustrates what was told by the current inspectors, not to be taken as positives for the Trump administration.