Overriding Safety Devices: Risky Business

I was sitting at the terminal at Boston’s Logan Airport the other day, waiting for an afternoon flight.  Like most of us airport types, I while away the time by watching the ground operations going on through the window. I couldn’t help but notice a number of belt loaders and baggage tugs zipping around the perimeter of the apron. They were zipping around at a pace obviously faster than the airport speed limit.  As I was watching this, two more baggage tugs – one towing two carts and one towing three – came tearing out of the bag room; they actually seemed to be racing each other.  It’s a wonder that the baggage didn’t come flying off! This isn’t the first time, of course, that I’ve seen excessive speeds on the ramp.  But it did get me thinking about how, if the equipment comes from the factory with speed governors on them which are supposed to prevent excessive speeds, do they fail so often? Or do they “fail” because employees find a way to defeat these safety devices? I’m afraid that it may too often be because employees jimmy the equipment either because of the pressure of an unrealistic schedule, or because of their frustration with having a speed limit. Through the years, I have seen ground damage to aircraft caused by equipment whose safety devices were overridden.  Excessive speed meant the drivers were unable to stop in time to avoid colliding with an aircraft.