How can any of us reg'lar folk tell whether the state of infrastructure is acceptable? Once in a while there is a bad failure but I can't tell whether it's neglect or error. I don't know what "maintenance" is and how much of it is needed, and I don't know what "inspection" reveals and whether it's good enough.
The only thing I know for sure is, making it more political will make us dumber and angrier about it and will lead to a greater number of failures. Somehow this part needs to be left strictly in the hands of engineering, and out of the hands of politicians and the general public.
|