Re: Rail safety - disclosure of information - was video cameras in cabs

["Ronald BESDANSKY" <ronbest@bigpond.com>]

Rod <comtrain@mpx.com.au> wrote in message
news:84fnbo$58d$1@news1.mpx.com.au...
>
> Don't think because you don't hear about what is learnt, that it is not
> happening. They don't tell us what they find, or at least, they tell us
what
> they want us to know, nothing more.

I think one of the most worrisome trends in the field of railway safety, and
of safety generally, is the tendency to pull the wool over the public's
eyes. The authorities might justify doing so on the grounds that either

1. "We don't want to worry people, especially as they might not understand
the technicalities; or

2. "If they knew the truth, it might have serious  political consequences;
or

3. There are "commercial considerations."

I don't consider any of these excuses to be valid. The question is, what do
we do if we suspect that information IS being withheld? Going to the media
is likely to result in the sort of totally uninformed, misguided utter crap
represented by the "Snail rail" article in the Sun-Herald (Sydney) of
1999-12-26. Asking the Minister will probably fail because of reason 2
above. With all the "downsizing" and "rationalization" and privatization
going on, whistleblowers are probably an extinct species.

Do even "full public enquiries" bring out the real truth?
Rgds

Ron BESDANSKY