A Left-Wing Regulatory Nightmare

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'” — Ronald Reagan

Conservatives have an almost instinctive dislike of government regulation. That’s not to say that we don’t support any government regulations, but we understand that the government almost always over reaches.

That’s especially true in Europe, where the bureaucratic leviathan that is the EU is so over-the-top that it almost makes the federal government here in the states look as lean and mean as Madonna after an afternoon jog.

Just look at the latest nonsense our British cousins are having to put up with and you’ll see what I mean,

Passengers are having to change bus partway through their journeys to comply with an EU directive.

The legislation stops drivers clocking up more than 31 miles behind the wheel without a rest.

If a journey is any longer, the driver must pull over and wait for a replacement.

To comply with the directive, some operators are dividing routes into two or even three sections.

Drivers are allowed to undertake journeys of more than 31 miles – provided they get two straight days off.

Small companies are unable to guarantee this as easily as long-distance coach firms and are thus forced to divide trips as a result.

…By allowing these rules to be implemented they’re putting the final nail in the coffin of many smaller firms.”

Mr Howarth’s firm operates 80 coaches, employs 150 drivers and carries 50,000 passengers a day across Devon and Cornwall.

He added: “Passengers think it’s a joke, being made to shuffle off a bus, often in the middle of nowhere, because someone in Europe says so.

…This legislation – aimed at lorry drivers – superseded British law limiting drivers to 60 hours a week.

It means that customers of Western Greyhound have lost their direct service between Newquay and Plymouth.

The route, which covers 54 miles at the cost of :£5, is now broken into three stages. First, passengers must catch the 597 from Newquay to St Columb Major, seven miles away.

There they must disembark and change onto the waiting 593 which takes them the 27 miles to Liskeard.

Finally, the passengers switch to the 592 for the remaining 20 miles to Plymouth.

This may seem like a particularly ridiculous result of government regulation, but it’s also a telling one. If you get a bunch of bureaucrats together and allow them to make decisions about businesses they don’t really understand, that affect the lives of people they don’t know, it’s never a surprise when they make a mess of things.

That’s why you keep regulations to a bare minimum and as simple as possible, to lessen the chances that the government will screw people lives up in the process of “helping” them.

Hat tip to Small Dead Animals for the story.

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