Be forgiving toward anyone who is concerned, or even fearful, about the safety of railroad freight cars these days.

Most of the people who read this past week’s Associated Press report about railcar safety inspections no doubt still are amazed that there have not been numerous other serious rail accidents, especially like the one last year that caused so much havoc, damage and fear in East Palestine, Ohio.

Regarding fear, that reaction continues to be real even today, in and around the Ohio community.

And it is important to note that any trepidation still oozing from knowledge of what occurred in East Palestine should not be confined to residents of railroad communities, like Altoona and Johnstown, or just to other communities along railroad rights-of-way.

The issue of freight-car safety impacts people and places far beyond rail corridors, because of how often people come in contact with rail service, even if there is none close to where they live.

Concern also must exist about safety measures affecting passenger rail service — whether enough is being done to ensure the safety of those who place their trust in that mode of getting to wherever it is that they wish to go.

Thus, the AP report beginning on the front page of the Mirror’s July 24 edition should have opened a lot of eyes about a situation that should not exist.

According to the July 24 article, major railroads, apparently including Norfolk Southern, which is near and dear to this region, are rushing railcar inspections whereby train crew members have under two minutes for a 200-point inspection per railcar.

Also according to the article, unions have continued to call attention to the issue, especially since major railroads like Norfolk adopted versions of the controversial operating model Precision Scheduled Railroading. Under that operating plan, major railroads have eliminated approximately one-third of their workers.

Of course, the unions in question would oppose that result of the operating plan even if the inspection issue were not present.

Unfortunately, though, it is, and it is troubling to now know that rail companies have thrust such an unreasonable expectation on their workers and, thus, on the entities that depend on their raw materials or products getting to their destinations safely and on time.

Again, it is amazing that, with the current inspection expectation, there have not been numerous other East Palestine-like incidents.

Labor groups, including the Transportation Communications Union, which represents expert carmen who are tasked with inspecting railcars, say the staffing cuts and the resulting rushed inspections have led to problems that have not been “caught.” Those groups say the railroads are relying too much on train crews to identify problems.

Presumably, the train crews identify most of the more obvious problems, but it is reasonable to suggest that they might miss certain problems that would be “caught” by the carmen who are regarded as experts.

“Sadly, in today’s era of railroading, many carmen have to make the difficult decision of what to inspect,” said TCU national legislative director David Arouca. “Under impossible time pressures, carmen are simply unable to perform full inspections.”

Meanwhile, the railroads in question say that they remain committed to improving safety and that railroads remain the safest option, with more than 99% of all hazardous chemicals arriving safely to their destinations.

The railcar inspection issue needs much more study and evaluation — for the safety of everyone.