| Show 1 2A Standard-Examin-er Saturday March 25 1983 Opmikms Latest safety belt program laudable The Utah Highway Patrol has begun an intensified effort to remind parents of the importance of making sure their children are secure in a safety seat or fastened in safety belt before starting up the family car Drivers — either parents or legal guardians (grandparents aunts uncles are exempt) — who are stopped and found to have a child in the vehicle who is not restrained as required by law will be given a citation But to those that are discovered in compliance they can expect the mailman to deliver a letter of commendation for making sure that their children are fastened up and secured during a motoring trip Why is such a campaign necessary? Because it has been ascertained that there are about 25 percent of the state’s adults who show disregard for Utah’s child restraint law that was adopted by the Utah Legislature a couple of sessions ago In some instances it is not neglect but instead a foolish belief that the law deprives them of inalienable freedoms Protecting children in an automobile is not only sensi- ble it’s the law All 50 states have laws requiring children to be restrained but nationally only 77 percent of the youngsters are regularly buckled into the legal restraints some improperly If the figures are correct and 25 or more children of ev- ‘ ) ery 100 are riding unsecured then there is ample reason for this new impetus of the Highway Patrol to educate or the driving public of the care and protection that are obligated to provide to children 2£S V It’s equally important that older children and adults be protected and that is why 31 states — including Utah — laws for adults Safety belt laws now imhave safety-be- lt & larrifto cat pact 198 million Americans Government studies for 1987 show 200 children under the age of 4 involved in highway crashes were saved bey seats Highway crashes are the highest cause of cause of fatality and serious injury for children over six 'off J child-safet- NtJ ° When it is recognized that many young lives could be y seats then the reasoning behind the saved by Utah Highway Patrol’s public awareness program becomes clear The troopers are committed to improve traffic safety and they realize one of the best ways is to alert the public to the urgency and importance of safety belts and child re- “ b child-safet- 'few ip S °0 0 " 00 hjikm OURPENCE HMJ straints Next time you get into your car buckle up your small passengers and then fasten your own seat belt It could make an important difference if there is a collision And there are other rewards The next generation of drivers will not need reminders The measure will be a habit live-savi- ng We may be in Honduras to protect money in Panama “Do you think Reagan wants to get us into a war?” Duvalle asked me “Why don’t you ask him?” I said “What good will it do? He can't hear me above the noise of his helicopter Tell me why he sent 3200 troops to Honduras” “It’s a training exercise for the 82nd Airborne” I assured him “Why can’t they train in the United States?” “We don’t have enough land in the US for a s training exercise” "You know what I think?” Duvalle said “The President doesn’t want to leave office without getting us into one last good war” “That's ridiculous He had a war in Grenada He doesn't need another to prove he’s macho” “Grenada wasn’t a war People have forgotten about it already They don’t even remember it was fought during Reagan’s administra- first-clas- Art Buchwald ment behind in a field? Then as soon as they leave the Contras will come in and grab all the stuff the 82nd forgot to take with them” “But that sounds as if the President is going around Congress” Duvalle said “There is nothing wrong with that if the cause is tion If he gets our troops fighting in Nicaragua people will remember that war for years to come” Duvalle declared just” said “The President doesn’t want our boys to fight in Nicaragua He wants the Contras to do the fighting for us But Congress wouldn’t give the freedom fighters anything to fight with so the White House decided to go behind their backs and send our boys to Honduras to make sure the Contras get the support they need to fight the Sandinistas” “How can Reagan give the Contras support if the US Congress has forbidden it?” Duvalle asked “Well has it ever occurred to you the US airborne troops will pull out and leave all their equip Contra scandal” “Why is Elliot Abrams running the show in Central America?” “Because that’s his territory” I said “I thought he lied to Congress about what was going on in Nicaragua” “He’s a confessed liar But that’s no reason why he can’t run a war” “I still think someone should tell Ronald Reagan that history will remember him more fondly if he “Who said that?” Duvalle wanted to know “Ollie North and most everyone involved in the I doesn't get American boys shot at” Duvalle said “Reagan would like to avoid it but what would you do if you were President and Congress closed off the faucet?” “Send troops to Honduras?” Duvalle asked “Of course Presidents like to be tested Besides if Reagan gets us into a war with Nicaragua he won’t have any problem pardoning North Secord Poindexter and Hakim” “He’s apparently covered all his bases But it still could mean a lot of shooting in Managua” “Perhaps but what a signal we would be sending to our enemies around the world” “If the Contras can’t win in Nicaragua and we have assured everyone the US is not going to fight there what are we doing in Honduras in the first place?” “Protecting our money in Panama” Los Angeles Times Syndicate Drug tests acceptable only to protect health safety There’s probably never been anyone as opposed to mandatory drug testing as I am That is against it in the way it’s gained popularity in the last few years as a tool for government and private companies to randomly demand employee urine samples Without probable cause Whether you’re the newest kid in the warehouse or the bookkeeper wearing a pin Like George Shultz and his famous refusal to take a polygraph test I will never give at the office My company has no more reason to suspect me of drug abuse than President Reagan had to think that poor old lonesome George was a security risk Random sneaky pecky on loyal productive employees is an insult And the shabby reliability of drug labs is notorious In studies some labs’ tests have proven about as reliable an indication of drug abuse as lifting someone's eyelids and demanding that he or she recite the alphabet backward A recent News mation Wire Service investigation professionally 25-yc- ar -- Sarah Overstreet laced 70 urine specimens with dangerous drugs and sent them to seven different drug labs in the Washington DC area By the time the labs had fin- ished their sophisticated analyses they’d come up of the time And the stories of careers ruined by inaccurate drug test arc popping up with enough regularity to be truly frightening They are especially so because drug paranoia is so high and wronged employees often have had no chance to fight back They're handed their walking papers and a “Just Say No” bumper sticker and shown the door Yet amid my outrage at the paranoid bungling by ignorant companies — and let’s not forget the Navy which accused a physician of morphine addiction when his fondness for poppy seed bagels erroneously marked his specimen — there’s one in wrong 82 percent cidence of drug testing I can agree with if the proper safeguards arc implemented It is the testing of transportation workers on whom others depend for their safety: pilots navigators railroad engineers bus drivers etc No one has any business conveying others under the influence of reaction-alterin- g drugs o makes a proper Sen John Danforth analogy when he likens drug testing these employees to checking all of us when we pass through at airports No one has any probable cause to suspect any of us yet the consequences of one handgun sneaked through by one nut could be scores of dead innocent people If Danforth has a good idea so does Rep Glenn The National Institute on Drug English Abuse is now setting up a national certification program for labs and English is sponsoring a bill that w ould make employers use certified labs if they’re going to fire or refuse to hire people based on their drug tests It's about time metal-dete- ctors Unions representing transportation workers are of mandatory drug testing I wonder how they’ll feel if English’s bill becomes law this spring If workers are guaranteed a fair urine test the whole issue will quit being a mockery and at least be an option worth considering But even if Congress regulates labs so that urine tests become reliable we are still in danger of having yet another of our rights chipped away just because it is convenient and one segment of society is so delusional that they want everyone tested for drugs no matter what the occupation (Perhaps a drugged hosiery salesperson could sell me a pair of black instead suntan beige or the airport clerk might rent me the Escort without the AMFM radio Horrors) Before Congress approves drug testing for transportation workers it should specifically define the jobs that affect others’ health and safety and restrict the drug testing to those Newspaper Enterprise Association fighting any kind back-sca- |
