Bridge inspection reports can legally remain secret, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office has decided.
Bridge maintenance is a life and death matter as so clearly proven by the recent I35 Minneapolis bridge collapse. In 1990, the Minneapolis bridge was inspected by the US Department of Transportation and found to be “structurally deficient.” In 2005, the Minneapolis bridge was again rated as “structurally deficient” and in possible need of replacement, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory database.
The bridge collapse August 1, 2007, killing 13 people.
Transparency into goverment activity creates peer pressure on government officials to do what they are elected to do, in this case fix broken down bridges.
By his ruling, AG Abbott has eliminated the peer pressure on the bureaucrats at the Texas Department of Transportation. In essence, he has told Texas to just trust the department to do the right thing.
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