Glowing Article on Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood

Ashley Halsey III of the Post has a very complimentary article on Ray LaHood today. It covers his career, his initiatives since become SecTran and the surprising way that he's become one of the stars of the Obama administration (who saw that coming?) His blog, for instance, gets more hits than anyone's except Obama's. The article covers his fight against distracted driving

His lasting legacy, however, may be the assault on distracted driving, and LaHood hammers on it from every angle that he and his agile staff can devise.

They've formed a MADD-like group -- Focus Driven -- persuaded Oprah Winfrey to devote an entire show and a multi-city rally to the subject, hosted a "Distracted Driving Summit," and blogged and Twittered on the subject. And they salute each state that has banned text messaging while driving.

"These are preventable deaths," he says. "We gotta do something about them."

He has also obtained restrictions on cellphone use by federal workers, banned truck drivers from texting and, after a couple of Northwest Airlines pilots flew 150 miles off course, cracked down on distracted flying.

And it covers his stated intention to stop favoring motorized traffic over biking and walking.

"This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."

The National Association of Manufacturers fired back that the policy was "dumb . . . irresponsible" and "nonsensical for a modern industrial nation."

Unfazed by the criticism, including the suggestion from a former GOP colleague in the House that he was on drugs, LaHood climbed onto a table at a convention of cyclists to reiterate his support for treating "walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes."

And it notes that he's a recreational cyclist

But [LaHood and his wife] still find time for their weekend bike rides. They both wear helmets, of course, because when it comes to safety in all matters, the man's a stickler.

Photo by Marvin Joseph/the Washington Post Photo

Comments

[Michael H.]

Good article. I think it's also important to point out that Ray LaHood is a lifelong Republican, given the nature of some of the comments from visitors to this blog. He provides an example of how important it is not to turn bike-related issues into partisan battles. I'm guessing most readers here did not know LaHood was a Republican. (I didn't know myself until I read the article.)

It's difficult enough to promote balanced transportation infrastructure policies without alienating half of the people in political office or those in the general electorate who can influence policy decisions. As we know all too well, bike enthusiasts often face an uphill battle when it comes to infrastructure development, multiuse bike/run path maintenance and enforcement of the laws (keeping cars out of posted bike lanes, penalties for drivers who negligently or intentionally assault cyclists). We really can't afford to become strident partisans (at least "in public") and ignore how that affects the perception of cyclists among non-cyclists.

I hope LaHood is successful in his plan to normalize transportation policies and decrease the dependence on both foreign oil and oil that comes from risky locations like the Deepwater Horizon rig. The Gulf accident shows the problem with over reliance on oil while our continuing importation of oil from sources abroad boosts the revenues of rogue nations like Iran and Venezuela, who profit from the worldwide market for petroleum, even if we don't buy oil directly from them.

[darren]

Very nice, but it's a shame that it didn't touch on the lack of a new transportation authorization bill (something the Post has been pretty silent on overall), and Mr. LaHood's role and/or thoughts on the continued extensions.