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Friday, November 4, 2005

Daily No On I-912: Neglecting safety

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Washington voters are about to make life-and-death decisions. They should say no to dangerous roads, collapsing bridges and irresponsible pandering.

Initiative 912, which would roll back gasoline tax increases, flies in the face of lessons from America's biggest story of the year, Hurricane Katrina. Those who drive -- well, at least those who drive on bridges, overpasses and the like -- cannot pretend that the structures will automatically be safe, with or without investments in maintenance, repair or replacement.

As New Orleans learned, neglected structures are prone to failure. I-912 means years of delay to critical safety funding for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Evergreen Point Bridge, both of which might fail in an earthquake, plus many other risky bridges. Safety improvements for highways would also be at risk.

Of course, it would be nice to sit back and expect a bailout from the feds before anything bad happens. That would parallel the way public business was neglected in the Gulf states.

When Katrina struck with a good deal of warning, prior neglect, shortsightedness and acts of irresponsibility led to many unnecessary deaths. By saying no to I-912, voters can protect Washington state from tragedies that might match or exceed those of Katrina when the next earthquake strikes without warning.

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