PEOPLE SEE MORE OF WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.

In the fever swamps of Common Dreams, there is a derailment spree along the trunk line railroads.

After at least six major freight train derailments occurred across the United States over the past week, the need for stronger rail safety rules couldn't be clearer, an interunion alliance of rail workers said Monday.

"The recent uptick in derailments across the U.S. highlights the dire need for stricter regulations on the length and weight of trains, as well as a focus on preventing unsafe operational practices such as precision scheduled railroading (PSR) which prioritizes short-term financial gains for Wall Street over the safety of communities and railroad workers," Jason Doering, a locomotive engineer and general secretary of Railroad Workers United (RWU), said in a statement.

The past week "was not a good one" for the nation's Class 1 rail carriers, RWU observed.

On Sunday, March 26, a Canadian Pacific train carrying hazardous materials careened off the tracks outside Wyndmere, North Dakota, spilling liquid asphalt and ethylene glycol and releasing propylene vapor.

Last Monday, a Union Pacific iron ore train reached 118 miles per hour as it ran away down Cima Hill in the Mojave Desert before wrecking on a curve, destroying two locomotives and 55 cars in San Bernardino County, California.

On Wednesday, a Canadian National iron ore train derailed in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, a BNSF train carrying ethanol and corn syrup crashed near Raymond, Minnesota, causing a fire that forced local residents to flee.

On Friday, a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks in Irondale, Alabama.

One day ago, a train operated by the Class 2 regional Montana Rail Link—soon to be owned by BNSF—derailed on the banks of the Clark Fork River in Paradise, Montana.

In that last derailment, several box car loads of canned beer wound up chilling in the Clark Fork.

Trains contributor Bill Stephens, who has not been a fan of precision scheduled railroading or the cult of the operating ratio, provides the reality check.

Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau says that based on anecdotal evidence there hasn’t been any measurable uptick in the number of derailments or the severity of wrecks this year. “Rather, the events that have occurred appear to be drawing more scrutiny as public awareness and sensitivity has been heightened as a result of the NS accident in East Palestine and subsequent mishaps within the span of a few weeks,” he says.

But once the East Palestine derailment fired up the political class, if it's on the ground, it leads the news.

Allan Rutter, a researcher at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute who headed the FRA from 2001 to 2004, says political polarization contributed to the intense coverage that East Palestine and subsequent derailments received in the media and on social media.

“If you’re in the hammer business, all you see is nails. And so … a lot of people have looked at this and said, well, this is clearly a result of the previous administration doing something to do away with a regulation. Well, actually, that regulation has nothing to do with this particular type of train and probably wouldn’t have had anything to do with the cause of the train accident. But there’s too much to be gained out of finger-pointing,” he said in a recent podcast.

Newsworthy, yes. Worth preventing future derailments, yes. I repeat, though, would you rather risk tangling with trailer loads of those chemicals, or the beer, on your crumbling interstate highways?