How does this make me safer?

Holy crap, that's bound to cause problems for our news crews. I wonder what they're doing? A three-person crew usually checks about 10 or 12 cases of equipment when they fly, some of them containing those big batteries that run the lights and cameras. (The second photo on that page shows what they look like.)

I can't imagine having to carry a bunch of those in carry-on luggage. Not to mention those cases are usually too big for carry-on. I'll have to ask one of our photographers how they're handling this.

Why do they have to be checked? I don't think there was a reason given in your link.

I mean NOT checked. Carried on.

They sometimes explode.

Of course, airlines think they're much safer exploding in the passenger cabin than in the cargo hold...

From the DOT:

Lithium batteries are considered hazardous materials because they can overheat and ignite under certain conditions. Safety testing conducted by the FAA found that current aircraft cargo fire suppression system would not be capable of suppressing a fire if a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries were ignited in flight. This rule aims to reduce the risk of fires involving lithium batteries in the cabin of passenger aircraft.

It's supposedly in response to investigation into a UPS DC-8 fire from 2005.

I have missed so much being too broke to travel since 2001. When I finally get on a plane again it's going to seem like traveling behind the Iron Curtain.