AnnaLeah & Mary – Memorable Moments On Camera & Film

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Mary & AnnaLeah: A Short Film When we got back home after the crash (May 4, 2013) and were looking through our photo and video files, we found some short video clips of a short story which AnnaLeah had apparently written and which she narrated as Mary acted it out. Their older sister Susanna filmed it with her digital camera in our backyard in Midland, Texas (circa 2009). Remembering AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13). Miss you every single day.

Mary Moments A few moments of Mary’s time gives a look at her many moods–mostly merry.

Mary at her Baptism A glimpse of Mary on the day of her baptism–crying, smiling, & capturing hearts. A treasure.

Silly Mary! Oh, the laughter you brought into our lives, Mary!

A Gift from Mary Gifts from Mary…flowers and her joy-full smile

Mary Christmas Angel (#1): Jesus is the Heart of Christmas Short video clips of Mary as a Christmas angel in about 2003…in this one she is singing, “Jesus is the Heart of Christmas.”

Mary Takes On A Gate When Mary was very young, we used to call her www.mlk (wonderful wiggly worm mary lydia karth). She was full of energy and very expressive. It didn’t take much for her to make us laugh or smile. This two-minute video, where we were packing up to go home after a summer vacation, was one of those times where she amused her older brother without even trying.

Mary Climbs the Dune Steps Two-year old Mary gets help from her big brother Samuel when climbing the steps up the dune from the Lake Michigan beach. Then she has fun with the cottage door. Simple pleasures. . .

Life With Gertie Gertie was our family’s St. Bernard. Later, our joyful Mary had her very own beloved stuffed toy Gertie, who now keeps her nephew Romie company. And so the joy & belly laughs continue. Mary’s grandpa, James Oliver Waldron, sings The Teddy Bear Picnic https://annaleahmary.com/2016/12/marys…

Mary Makes Bread Here’s our Mary—showing us how to make le petit pain (little french bread loaves), and having fun in the process.

Mary Bakes a Surprise Cake for Rebekah To surprise her sister, Mary bakes a seven-layer engagement cake for Rebekah when she comes home for a visit shortly after getting engaged. Mary had so much fun doing it and also modeling Rebekah’s wedding dress as it was being sewn in the coming months before Rebekah’s wedding.(includes photos of Mary in Rebekah’s dress, Mary & Rebekah and music from Rebekah’s wedding)

A Day at the Beach With AnnaLeah & Mary AnnaLeah, Mary, and I enjoyed a day at a North Carolina beach in the Winter of 2013. I guess that it was the last time I went to the beach with them–although certainly not the first. Enjoy memorable moments while you can.

Mary Smells the Lilacs Mary smells our lilac bush in Michigan around 2005–a cutting from Great-Aunt Flossie (Waldron) Hill’s lilacs in Okemos, Michigan.

Walk Through The Woods; It Is Well With My Soul Mary loved to capture every moment on her camera–from the mundane to the amazing. That included our walk on the trails of Battle Park on a beautiful day in January 2013 in her new home of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Mary’s photo story of the walk with her sister, AnnaLeah, dad, and mom is set to Horatio Spafford’s well-known hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” Fitting in so many ways. Peace like a river attendeth my soul. https://annaleahmary.com/2016/06/a-wal…

Moments With Mary & AnnaLeah Just a few moments of time. . . 30 seconds to remember our girls by.

AnnaLeah Trims the Blinds While Mary Plays Getting our house ready to sell, took a lot of work. One day, AnnaLeah worked very hard to trim the new blinds throughout the house (with the help of Jerry & Levi). Mary’s job was to have fun and entertain the rest of us!

Always in my thoughts Jerry and I were able to spend some time at the cottages on Lake Michigan where our family has enjoyed vacations since Mary was three years-old. Shortly after we arrived, I was overcome with a wave of grief at the thought that here we are where they would no longer ever be again. Amidst the bittersweet memories, I was able to enjoy the time — what’s not to like about a peaceful time at the shore? The waves crashing. The red hot coals glowing. The wind blowing in the trees. Good fellowship. In particular though, I was caught up in two memories of Mary and AnnaLeah. The first night, I found a blue ribbon on the beach–buried slightly in the sand–and tied to a broken balloon. Of course, it reminded me of the time when Mary — at that very spot in 2010 — had found a Beany Baby Bear on the sand with a green ribbon attached to a balloon. I later in the week found a green ribbon in the sand. So I tied them to a driftwood stick and let them blow in the breeze. Later, I noticed that the bush by the “porch swing” was a blooming lilac bush. I never knew that because we normally would stay at the cottages the week after Labor Day. It brought to mind the photos of AnnaLeah which I treasure–sitting in that very swing, looking out at the shore, and building sand castles on the beach. I put together this video to capture the essence of the bittersweet memories which that special place evoke in my thoughts and heart.

AnnaLeah Visits Historical Durham AnnaLeah and her dad shared historical interests. Jerry took her to Durham in the Spring of 2013 to see historical sites. AnnaLeah borrowed Mary’s camera to capture the memories. Background music by her Grandpa Waldron on his dulcimer.

Be Still, My Soul Mary and I were having some quiet time—hard for a two year-old who is having fun at the Lake. Savor precious moments…here today and gone tomorrow. Be still and know that He is God…trust that He will be a present help in times of trouble…rest in His loving arms.

With Hope, We Carry On Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary–the joy & the pain–with hope we carry on. Photos & video of our girls set to the song, With Hope, by Steven Curtis Chapman. https://annaleahmary.com/

Camp Concordia Celebrates 50 Years Our family has a history with Camp Concordia in Gowen, Michigan. So when the Camp celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007, we traveled there to join in the fun. Archery, canoeing, Noah’s Ark playground, and a dog cart ride for Mary. Then, in 2015, Levi went back as a Camp Counselor. He found The Pudding Stone–donated to the camp from my childhood home.

Mary Loved To Play Mary could find fun in just about anything. This time it was playing frisbee or running with Levi at the playground.

Remembering Family Heritage Jerry, AnnaLeah, Caleb, & Mary visiting the Karth family gravesites in a Chicago cemetery–circa September 2010.

The New Sink Mary notices that the remodeled kitchen is almost finished. While admiring the new sink, she gets a surprise!

Mary Has Fun With Her Friend & Her Camera Mary and her friend (and her friend’s dog) manage to have fun being silly together with Mary’s camera.

AnnaLeah’s Confirmation AnnaLeah thoughtfully shares a few words from her heart…about her faith. See the statement which AnnaLeah wrote when she was 13: https://annaleahmary.com/2017/05/annal…

Last Moments Mary and AnnaLeah did not expect this road trip to be their last.

The Making of a Very Special Bench This is a record of the creation of a very special bench in memory of two sisters who are no more — AnnaLeah and Mary Lydia Karth.

#madewithheart by a chainsaw wood carver, CC Carving:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...; https://www.etsy.com/shop/cccarving?f…

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4: 7-8)

To God be the glory — their Creator and Redeemer.

Background Music: “Into the West”: “Into the West is a song written by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox, and performed by Lennox for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

CMV Safety Summit Showcases Underride Crash Tests

StickySafety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

The FMCSA and the Institute for Transportation Research & Education at North Carolina State co-hosted of the Commercial Motor Vehicle 2026 Safety Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina August 10-11, 2026. The organizers invited AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety (ALMFTS) to arrange an underride crash testing demonstration by Aaron Kiefer (Collision Safety Consulting) and a volunteer TEAM Underride Crash Test Crew — as part of the Technology Showcase held at the NC State Highway Patrol training facility on August 11.

Educational resources available to participants at the STOP Underrides/Collision Safety Consulting booth in the Exhibit Hall and the Technology Showcase are provided here digitally:

Here is Video Footage from the Crash Tests:

  • Crash test into the side of a trailer WITH a side impact/underride guard at 39 mph
  • Crash test into the side of a trailer WITHOUT a side impact/underride guard at 40 mph

Media Coverage:

We know this unique opportunity to showcase the technical feasibility of underride protection could not have been accomplished without the commitment to safety evidenced by so many people. We are grateful to the individuals and organizations whose donations made this demonstration of life-saving technology possible — including gifts given in memory of several underride victims, as well as an engineer who made significant contributions to underride research. Additionally, we are thankful to the 25 members of the TEAM Underride Crash Test Crew, who volunteered their time and skills from around the country, as well as the help and resources from the NC State Highway Patrol, AWP Safety, and the Garner Fire Department.

Recent Relevant Research Reports & Recommendations on Side Underride Guards:

Crash Test Into Side of a Trailer with a Side Guard 2026  Crash testing, of a car colliding with the side of a tractor trailer — equipped with a Side Underride Guard — at 39 mph as part of the 2026 CMV Safety Summit in Raleigh, was live streamed on Facebook by a member of the crash test crew from a spectator viewpoint on a hill above the crash course. The windshield was cracked, but the truck did not go past the windshield into the occupant survival space.

Crash Test Into Side of Trailer — No Side Guard 2026 (livestreamed on Facebook) Crash testing, of a car colliding with the side of a tractor trailer at 40 mph as part of the 2026 CMV Safety Summit in Raleigh, was live streamed on Facebook by a member of the crash test crew from a spectator viewpoint on a hill above the crash course. The driver and a front seat passenger would not have survived.

Basic Underride Information

StickySafety Advocacy, Truck Safety

This post provides basic underride information, as well as a running list of recent relevant posts.

  1. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.
  2. Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test; Rear Retrofit crash test; Safetyskirt SIG.R Crash Test 2023, 35 mph T-Bone Behind Axles; SafetySkirt Crash Testing Videos; Unguarded Crash Test 2023, 37.5 mph, 45 Degree Angle Crash; Bicycle Underride Crash Test (September 2024) — with & without side guard)
  3. STOP Underrides! YouTube Channel Truck Underride Video Playlist
  4. Underride Crash Test Videos
  5. AnnaLeah & Mary – Memorable Moments On Camera & Film
  6. CMV Safety Summit Showcases Underride Crash Tests
  7. Please get your Wabash Trailers fixed: Recalled for Improperly Installed Underride Guards
  8. Can Conflicting Conclusions in Side Underride Guard CBAs BOTH Be Correct?
  9. Can Brokers Be Held Liable For Preventable Underride Deaths?
  10. NTSB Board Member Speaks Out On Underride Safety Recommendations
  11. Waves of Action to STOP Underrides!
  12. The Violent Nature Of Underride Injuries Is Widely Ignored
  13. Stoughton Successfully Completes 40 MPH Rear Impact Guard Crash Test
  14. STOP Underrides National Town Hall – SAVE THE DATE
  15. Rationale for Republican Support of STOP Underrides Bill
  16. STOP Underrides Bill Re-Introduced In Senate & House
  17. Ralph Nader Radio Hour Highlights Underride. . . Here’s The Rest of the Story
  18. “Georgia looks to police to decide whether to start tracking deadly underride crashes”
  19. Did DOT Violate the Information Quality Act When it Published Side Underride Guard Research?
  20. Critique of NHTSA-Contracted Elemance Rear Impact Guard Research
  21. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Existing Solutions
  22. The Missing Piece of the Roadway Safety Puzzle: National Roadway Safety Advocate
  23. DOT Is Asking For Input. Tell Them To Give Crash Victims a Voice
  24. First-time Ever: NHTSA Nominee Questioned On Underride By Senator
  25. Good News: Stoughton extends IIHS-award-winning underride protection to container shipping
  26. What’s New In Underride?
  27. Lateral Protection Device+ Performance Standard = Prevention of Side Underride Tragedies Updated May 10, 2025
  28. Risky Rigs: Thousands of people have died after their car slid under a tractor-trailer
  29. NHTSA’s Neglect of Underride Protection Deserves Congressional Oversight
  30. $462M Jury Verdict Over Rear Impact Guard Design
  31. What Don’t They Want to See? DOT Declines to Send Observer to Underride Crash Test… AGAIN!
  32. Industry Response to ACUP Report; Enough of the Bellyaching Already!
  33. NHTSA Defends Itself to Congress – Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
  34. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection Reports to Congress & DOT Secretary
  35. DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act Introduced To Give Victims A Voice
  36. Senior Agency Officials Suppressed Side Guard Research — Impacting Regulatory Analysis
  37. Underride Crash Memorials
  38. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24, 2024 Meeting Record
  39. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24 Meeting Video Playlist
  40. How To Make Crashes With The Front Of A Truck More Survivable
  41. Register for April 24 Meeting of Advisory Committee on Underride Protection
  42. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, February 8, 2024 Meeting Record
  43. Front Impact Guard Webinar – April 17
  44. Truck Impact Guards = Underride Protection
  45. Upcoming Underride Advisory Committee Meeting Schedule
  46. Underride Made #1 on ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023
  47. Unsung Underride Prevention Heroes
  48. My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report
  49. Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People
  50. Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil
  51. A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil
  52. Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference
  53. A day in the life of an underride crash test crew; A Photographer’s Perspective
  54. Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference on DOT Steps in DC
  55. Simply Mary. . . August 6, 1999 – May 8, 2013
  56. Video from STOP Underrides Crash Test Event
  57. Public Comments on the Side Guard ANPRM (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
  58. Still Time to Submit a Public Comment on Side Guard Rule (July 20)
  59. STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
  60. So, what did you think of the PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary?
  61. PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary & Petition to Secretary Pete
  62. Commemorative Bell for Roadway Safety Victims
  63. Taking On a Safety Issue: Hazardous Railroad Crossings
  64. Upcoming PBS/Frontline Documentary: “America’s Dangerous Trucks”
  65. Global Underride Discussion
  66. 10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change
  67. May 4, 2013 seems like just yesterday; has anything changed?
  68. What Do Baseball & Truck Underride Have In Common?
  69. FARS Coding of a Sample of Rear Underride Crashes
  70. LPD+ Saves Lives; But what’s an LPD+?
  71. STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour
  72. “Economism Is Out Of Control” In Life & Death Regulatory Analysis
  73. Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary
  74. Someday, Seeing Side Guards & Strong Rear Underride Guards Will No Longer Surprise Me
  75. Successful Side Guard Crash Test in Raleigh
  76. NHTSA Failing To Educate Stakeholders On Underride
  77. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis Presentation to TEAM Underride
  78. Update on Underride Protection Progress
  79. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis
  80. Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports
  81. “A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw”; Industry Discussed Underride Rules in 2000
  82. Another Side Guard On The Road
  83. Too Many Lives Forever Changed
  84. Cohen, Gillibrand Call on DOT to Act Expeditiously & Implement Provisions from Their Stop Underrides Act Included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
  85. Five Years Have Passed Since the Historic IIHS Side Guard Crash Test
  86. Back of the Envelope Math: How many side underride deaths since March 19, 1969?
  87. 53 Years or 19,358 days
  88. When it comes to underride, where do you stand?
  89. DOT Announced A National Roadway Safety Strategy; Now It’s Time To Talk About What That Means
  90. Timeline Of Research & Collaborative Efforts To Create A Consensus Side Guard Standard
  91. Can the Insurance Industry Help End the Unfair Fight of Truck Underride Tragedies?
  92. Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?
  93. @SecretaryPete, Will you fix flawed underride analysis or let deaths continue?
  94. Families glad new infrastructure law will address underride crashes, WRTV, November 18, 2021
  95. First responders train to save lives during underride crashes, WRTV, November 23, 2021
  96. Raleigh Mom: Infrastructure Bill Will Prevent Crashes Like the One That Killed My Girls , Raleigh News&Observer, November 18, 2021
  97. Rear impact guard now part of annual truck inspection, CCJ, November 15, 2021
  98. FMCSA Issues Final Rule: Rear Underride Guards To Be Part Of Annual Inspections, November 20, 2021
  99. Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation
  100. AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”
  101. Unguarded & Unsafe: Death By Underride by Eric Hein, July 15, 2021
  102. STOP Underrides Petition can be found here.
  103. A Timeline of Underride Safety
  104. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
  105. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
  106. Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards
  107. Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?
  108. Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes
  109. Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks More research on side underride has just been published by SAE International following a presentation by Garrett Mattos of the Friedman Research Center at a SAE Conference. Hopefully, the Department of Transportation now has enough research to make good on their March 19, 1969 intention to add underride protection to the sides of large vehicles.
  110. IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride
  111. What will it take to get UNDERRIDE on DOT Regulatory Agenda? We’ve been waiting 52+ years for DOT to move forward with side guards on large trucks — not to mention improving rear guard regulations and adding front underride protection. After numerous petitions, comprehensive underride rulemaking still has not made it the onto the DOT Unified Regulatory Agenda.
  112. Collaborative Discussion of Side Guard Challenges on Specialty Trucks I was very pleased with the collaborative discussion which took place via Zoom on Monday, March 29, 2021, regarding the challenges of adding side guard safety technology to specialty trucks. Participants included primarily engineers and small companies who have been working on researching, designing, and/or marketing solutions to the underride problem. The meeting was also quietly observed by families of underride victims and administrative officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
  113. The March Madness of Competing Traffic Safety Interests What is it like to compete for the attention of government leaders in order to get traction on the traffic safety problem which took your loved one’s life? Envision a press conference on a hot topic where a cacophony of reporters can be heard shouting out — vying for the opportunity to have their question be the one that gets answered.
  114. Time for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman Almost five years ago, after delivering a Vision Zero Petition to leaders in Washington, D.C., I realized that we need something more than a White House Vision Zero Task Force and a National Vision Zero Goal. We need a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to be at the helm of a nationwide network of community traffic safety advocates. Someone who will have a place at the federal table — with the authority to take ongoing action on behalf of vulnerable victims of vehicle violence.
  115. Will NHTSA & NTSB Address Side Underride Factor In Latest Tesla Crash Investigation? I have again requested that NHTSA and NTSB address the side underride factor in their investigation of yet another Tesla side underride crash.
  116. Truck Underride Victims & Families Host News Conference for STOP Underrides Act Introduction On Monday, March 8, 2021, truck crash victims’ families hosted a news conference to discuss their stories and the recent introduction of the STOP Underrides Act of 2021 — on March 4, 2021 in the Senate and March 8 in the House.
  117. Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force On a Friday afternoon — February 26, 2021 — over 50 people met via Zoom to discuss comprehensive underride protection. The purpose of the meeting was to report on progress which has been made by several subcommittees since an earlier meeting in 2020 — including Industry Engagement, Research, and Engineering Subcommittees.
  118. Should we be concerned about side guards getting hung up on railroad tracks? I keep hearing members of the trucking industry bring up the possibility of side guards on trailers getting hung-up on railroad tracks. They point to it as a reason to not require side guards on all new trucks. Is that a valid concern? And where is their documentation?
  119. Transport Companies Provide Feedback on Side Guard Operational Issues We know that the trucking industry has expressed concern about potential operational issues which could occur when side guards are installed on large trucks. In order to address those concerns, we asked several trucking companies to give us feedback about their experience after installing side guards on their tractor-trailers.
  120. Consensus Side Guard Standard On April 17, 2020, over 40 people participated in a virtual meeting of a volunteer Underride Protection Committee’s “Side Guard Task Force.” This included two engineers from trailer manufacturers. As a follow-up, several subcommittees began to hold virtual meetings, including an Underride Engineering Subcommittee.
  121. Utility Trailers Encourages Retrofit of Rear Impact Guards To Prevent Underride Last evening, I received some amazing news! Utility Trailer Manufacturing has announced that their improved Rear Impact Guard (RIG) will be offered at a discount.
  122. FMCSA Proposed Rule For Inspection of Rear Underride Guards A red letter day: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at long last has proposed a rule to add rear underride guards to Appendix G. What does that mean? It means that rear underride guards will be required to be in good condition in order to pass an annual vehicle inspection. Once the rule is actually issued.
  123. “Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
  124. Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride It is to their credit that nine U.S. trailer manufacturers have improved their rear underride guard design to meet the IIHS TOUGHGuard standard and seven of them are putting it on all new trailers as Standard. What that means is that they have surpassed the current federal standard and have been crash tested to show that they are more likely to prevent underride and catastrophic Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) — thereby more likely to save lives when passenger vehicles rear end tractor-trailers.
  125. Save Lives by Lighting up Tractor-Trailers & Tanker Trucks Truck drivers can play an important role in making sure that the trailers which they haul are as visible as possible to other drivers on the road — especially at nighttime. On October 15, 2018, Leslie and Sophie Rosenberg lost their lives when they collided with the side of a tanker late at night.
  126. Truck Driver Mistakes Don’t Excuse Industry & Government Negligence To Solve Underride Problem Thanksgiving Eve, another apparent underride victim lost her life: Though the truck driver may have made a mistake, not all the blame rests with him for a crash which might have had a different outcome with effective underride protection. Carriers, trailer manufacturers, DOT, & Congress can make these kinds of truck crashes more survivable.
  127. A fully-guarded trailer hits the road – ready to STOP underride! Engineering ingenuity and a lot of hard work went into the research, development, and installation of this fully-guarded trailer system. This week, a small carrier in North Carolina became part of our pilot program. We are thankful that they have agreed to provide us feedback on this #SaferTruck as they drive it on the road to carry out their transport business.
  128. On August 19, we hosted another Underride Staff Briefing — this time via Zoom. We are providing Congressional Offices with the PowerPoint pdf from that presentation, including comments from engineers with expertise in underride as well as underride families: Underride Briefing PowerPoint pdf (inc. links to resources & video)
  129. Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020
  130. Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event Read more here.
  131. Comparison Chart of Underride Provisions in Various Bills
  132. A quick look at some of the more recent efforts to STOP underride tragedies: Update on Underride News
  133. SOCIAL MEDIA: #STOPunderrides Tweets & Facebook Pages: STOP Underrides Act of 2019 and Save Lives/Stop Underrides., AnnaLeah&MaryforTruckSafety , stopunderrides.org
  134. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.

RAMCUP. Roya, AnnaLeah & Mary Comprehensive Underride Protection. They paid the price:

Underride Crash Memorials

StickySafety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

NOTE: The summer months involved a lot of traveling to help family and I was not able to continue reviewing truck crash notifications and writing underride memorial posts. As a result, you will observe an apparent cessation in these tragedies — not because they aren’t happening but only because I wasn’t monitoring and recording them. 10/1/24 mwk

Because the bottom of a truck is higher than the bumper of passenger vehicles, when there is a collision the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck and the first point of impact is the windshield — resulting in underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI). Seatbelts, airbags, and car crumple zones do not function as intended in underride crashes — front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

This geometric mismatch has been misunderstood for decades. Reports on truck crashes generally focus on the cause of the crash and not what caused the deaths. So underride is undercounted. I know this from firsthand experience having been in a truck crash (but not in the part of the car which went under the truck) and lost two daughters because of underride (one of whom was not reported as such in DOT data).

In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.

This is not an exhaustive list — merely the tip of the iceberg. But I hope that it serves to demonstrate the ongoing nature of a preventable public safety problem.

You can find these Underride Crash Memorial posts here.

Basic Underride Information

Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions

Please get your Wabash Trailers fixed: Recalled for Improperly Installed Underride Guards

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

If you purchased a 2027 Wabash tractor-trailer, please respond to the NHTSA Recall and get it fixed. Failure to do so could result in a deadly underride in the event of a collision.

“Wabash is recalling more than 900 van trailers because of rear underride guards that may have improperly tightened bolts.

The recall affects 2027 model year Wabash van trailers produced between April 20 and June 5 of this year.” Read more here: Wabash Trailers Recalled for Improperly Installed Underride Guards

Can Conflicting Conclusions in Side Underride Guard CBAs BOTH Be Correct?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , , ,

What will Congress and NHTSA do with conflicting conclusions from two side underride guard cost benefit analyses? After all, they can’t both be correct, can they? The answer matters for thousands of road users who may otherwise lose their lives in future collisions with the sides of tractor-trailers.

In 2023, NHTSA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for side impact (underride) guards. The cost benefit analysis, which was not externally peer-reviewed, concluded that 17.2 lives would be saved per year, that the annual discounted cost would be between $970 million and $1.2 billion, with a resulting cost per equivalent life saved ranging between $73.5 million to $103.7 million. They therefore determined that a side impact guard regulation would not be cost-effective.

In contrast, Eric Hein, a retired federal scientist, published a double-blind, peer-reviewed cost benefit analysis study in the Journal of Progress in Safety & Security on May 15, 2026, titled, Cost-benefit analysis of side underride guards for new semitrailers in the United States. Hein concludes,

In every modeled scenario, preventing 50 to 150 fatalities and comparable numbers of serious injuries produces positive present value net economic benefits. Estimated net benefits range from $0.137 billion to $2.8 billion and consistently exceed the combined costs of side underride guard installation and the fuel penalty attributable to added weight.

These two one-pagers, created by Hein, summarize the results of his study:

Side Underrride CBA Policy Brief

Side Underride Hidden Legal Costs

NHTSA requested comments on their 2023 Side Impact Guard ANPRM Regulatory Analysis:

The agency requests comments that would help NHTSA assess and make judgments on the benefits, costs, and other impacts of side underride guards to increase protection for occupants of passenger vehicles in crashes into the sides of trailers and semitrailers. This ANPRM summarizes NHTSA’s research and requests comment on the accuracy of the estimated benefits, costs, and other impacts of requiring side underride guards on heavy trailers and semitrailers.

In response to NHTSA’s request for Public Comments, numerous individuals and organizations questioned the accuracy of NHTSA’s conclusions. That included this excerpt from a comment submitted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) believes NHTSA’s analysis suffers from several fundamental flaws that reduce its benefit estimates for side underride guards. Specifically, we estimate the number of lives that could be saved by a side underride guard standard is up to ten times the number reported by NHTSA. . .

The LTCCS-derived estimates for relevant fatalities are roughly 9-13 times the 17.2 lives NHTSA
estimated could be saved by a standard. Interestingly, the agency estimated the costs of a rule to be “6-9 times as large as the corresponding estimated safety benefits.” Establishing how many of these crashes may overwhelm side guard designs and still allow fatal underride would require higher speed crash testing of different potential designs and a better estimate of real-world crash severity in side underride crashes, including a reasonable distribution of impact angles. Even after applying a realistic upper severity limit for guard effectiveness, the available EDR data suggest a side underride guard regulation would be close to the cost effectiveness threshold established by NHTSA using passenger vehicle occupants alone. The true benefits will only be larger once the agency accounts for the number of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists whose lives could be saved by side underride guards.

In conclusion, IIHS believes side underride guards have the potential to save many more lives than NHTSA has estimated in its cost-benefit analysis. We urge the agency to perform a more thorough analysis that does not depend on multiple assumptions that guards will provide no benefit outside a narrow range of conditions. Large truck side underride crashes result in hundreds of lost lives and debilitating injuries each year. Equipping trailers with side underride guards would immediately and significantly reduce this unacceptable toll.

Now that NHTSA has received multiple public comments questioning the accuracy of their cost benefit analysis, what are they going to do? Will they pay heed to the Public Comment submitted to NHTSA in 2016 by the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA) in response to a 2014 petition for underride rulemaking? TTMA President Jeff Sims concludes that comment with this commitment,

TTMA would support the implementation of side impact guards if they ever become justified and technologically feasible. We continue to support the NHTSA review of Petitioners’ requests and stand ready to partner in the development of justified and feasible designs if they possibly emerge.

Hein referenced his study in a recent opinion piece published on June 4 in The Hill, Federal regulators know exactly how to prevent side underride deaths. Hein concludes with a reminder and recommendation to Congress regarding its role in ending preventable underride tragedies.

In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to assess the feasibility, benefits and costs of side underride guards and determine whether performance requirements were warranted. The agency issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in April 2023, but its analysis left out major categories of preventable harm. It did not count side underride deaths involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists, and it excluded crashes above 40 miles per hour, even though the government’s own research shows side guards can be effective up to 50 miles per hour. 

Congress required a decision, not endless review. More than three years later, the agency has not finished the job, still stuck reviewing comments. The rulemaking has not advanced. 

Since the 1970s, the National Transportation Safety Board has urged the agency to address underride protection. Its Advisory Committee on Underride Protection recently reached a similar conclusion, reporting that “in the last 50 years no substantial progress has been made by [The Department of Transportation] to prevent these horrific crash fatalities and injuries.” Yet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to delay while families keep losing loved ones in crashes that can be prevented. 

The agency does not need perfect data to act. Federal safety regulation often proceeds under uncertainty when the risk is severe, the countermeasure is feasible and the evidence supports action. 

The trucking industry has often said side underride guards should be required only if they are technologically feasible and economically justified. Those conditions have now been met. Crash tests and real-world deployments show the technology can work. 

Congress should include the Stop Underrides Act in the next surface transportation reauthorization and finally require side underride guards on new semitrailers.

Side impact guards have been shown to be both technologically feasible and cost-justified. What are we waiting for?

Can Brokers Be Held Liable For Preventable Underride Deaths?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , , ,

Given the recent Supreme Court decision on broker liability for hiring unsafe carriers, I asked myself the question, “Can brokers be held liable for preventable underride deaths?”

Now, when I asked my son the question, he said, “I very specifically did not go to law school.” To which I replied, “But you are very wise.” And he countered with, “which is why I know better than to give legal advice.”

Likewise, I know better than to write a post trying to give legal advice. But what I can do is to try and get the attention of brokers and simply say: This is what’s going on. . . Trailer manufacturers have been successfully sued for preventable underride deaths. Trucking companies have been successfully sued for preventable underride deaths. Could brokers be the next ones on the hook for preventable underride deaths?

Could a plaintiff claim that a broker knew (or should have known) that choosing a carrier whose trucks were not equipped with adequate comprehensive underride protection was a known, unreasonable risk of catastrophic underride injuries and death?

The difference a well-designed rear underride guard can make (IIHS crash testing)
Underride Crash Tests – With & Without Side Guards (2023, Collision Safety Consulting)

Eric Hein, who lost his son Riley Hein in 2015 due to a side underride crash, has published an extensive cost benefit analysis of side underride, Cost-benefit   analysis   of   side   underride   guards   for   new semitrailers in the United States (Journal of Progress in Safety & Security, May 15, 2026) — documenting the cost effectiveness of side underride guards. According to Hein, in The Cost of Inaction: Million-Dollar Side Underride Cases, side underride crashes of passenger vehicles have repeatedly resulted in multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements.

Here are some examples of publicly-reported successful underride lawsuits:

Side underride crashes also kill or seriously injure people walking and bicycling. They may be struck during a truck’s right turn, pulled under the trailer, or crushed by the semitrailer’s rear wheels. According to Hein, publicly reported cases include:

Hein further writes:

These hidden costs were not accounted for in NHTSA’s side underride cost-benefit analysis. They are not isolated incidents. They reflect a national pattern of catastrophic crashes, loss of life, and substantial legal exposure resulting from the absence of federal side underride protection requirements

Public verdicts and settlements understate litigation pressure. Many side underride cases end in confidential settlements, partial settlements, or quiet dismissals after payment. From 2019 to 2024, side-underride litigation likely involved dozens of lawsuits nationwide and roughly $100 million to $250 million.

A side underride guard plus aerodynamic skirt costs about $2,500 per trailer. A $30 million verdict would equip about 12,000 trailers with guards.

Side Underrride CBA Policy Brief

Side Underride Hidden Legal Costs

In reflecting on the recent SCOTUS decision, I was reminded of the advice which I heard in 2019 when I listened to a NTSB webinar, “Collision Avoidance Technologies – Why You Need Them in Your Trucks Today!” The presenter was Robert Maag, the VP of Operations for a small trucking company, Perfect Transportation. He had some wise advice for trucking companies related to investment in safety for a fleet:

Investment in the front end can be extremely minimal in proportion to

what could be at risk at the back end.

Then he asked, As a business owner or executive, what keeps you awake at night?

Maag PowerPoint Slide

From his perspective, investing in fleet safety is business commonsense. I couldn’t have said it better myself: Investing in underride protection (front, side, & rear) is in the best interest of the trucking industry — including brokers — and an appropriate cost of doing business.

Closing thought. . . could the U.S. implement a safety rating system — like that which exists in the U.K., the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS)? This is a voluntary accreditation system which enables fleets to get recognition for taking action to set higher standards for safety, efficiency, environmental protection, and overall excellence in fleet operation. I talked to FORS representatives in 2016. I thought it then, and I still think it. . . maybe we should give it a try.

Let’s make truck crashes SURVIVABLE. Win/Win.

Maag PowerPoint Slide
Maag PowerPoint Slide

In case you’re interested, here’s the 2019 NTSB webinar presentation:

NTSB Board Member Speaks Out On Underride Safety Recommendations

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

Watch as NTSB Board Member Thomas Chapman speaks out on NTSB underride safety recommendations, submitted to NHTSA in 2014, at the STOP Underrides National Town Hall on April 15 (https://youtu.be/8mCR2nsVAqQ):

Highlights from his message include this statement:

“NTSB has long recognized the need for underride protection. Since the ’70s in fact. In 2013 and 2014, we issued key recommendations urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require commercial trucks to have strong rear and side underride protection systems that prevent injuries to passenger vehicle occupants during a crash. “Unfortunately, our work is not done. NTSB will continue to push for our recommendations to be implemented by NHTSA. Strong rear & side underride protection must be required on all trucks & trailers,” said @NTSB Board Member Thomas Chapman in a message to participants of the STOP Underrides National Town Hall on April 15. (View highlights in this Video)


Read the 11Alive News report on the Town Hall (includes NTSB quote) — National town hall aims to energize fight for underride protections to prevent deadly crashes
Watch the 11Alive News report on the Town Hall (includes NTSB clip) — National town hall aims to energize fight for underride protections to prevent deadly crashes:


Here’s a one-pager on the NTSB’s position on underride guards. Communications between the NTSB and the NHTSA regarding NTSB Underride Safety Recommendations can be found here.

What are we to think when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (federally-funded) for all intents and purposes ignores the safety recommendations of the National Transportation Research Board (federally-funded)?

Waves of Action to STOP Underrides!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

Add your voice to the STOP Underrides National Town Hall. On April 15, Town Hall participants heard from STOP Underrides Bill sponsors and a few families who have lost loved ones due to the preventable underride problem. Then we learned how to take simple action steps during the event to encourage our U.S. legislators to support the Stop Underrides Act.

Now we want to continue that Wave of Action. Follow these simple STOP Underrides Action Steps to send a strong message to your Members of Congress. You’ll be shown step by step how to write a simple script. Then use that script to send an email, record a video selfie, make a phone call, and post on social media.

Inspire others to do the same by using one of the sample social media posts included in the instructions. Use this virtual “sticker” on social media:

It has a QR code with a link to the email action alert — giving your viewers a simple way to add their voice and keep the Waves of Action going.

The Violent Nature Of Underride Injuries Is Widely Ignored

Safety Advocacy, , ,

The violent nature of underride injuries are documented here in two side underride crashes — a 2016 fatal truck crash and a 2020 near-fatal truck crash. The severity of the injuries which are a direct consequence of preventable intrusion into the occupant survival space is rarely discussed. The regulatory analysis primarily addresses the problem as a transportation issue.

This is disturbing because the reality of the horrific and violent nature of these injuries is muted and minimized by simply calling it a “safety” issue while ignoring the actual known unreasonable risk of endangerment to human life.

Safety refers to the state of being free from harm, danger, or risk. It encompasses various conditions and practices designed to protect individuals from injury or accidents. (US Legal Definition)

NHTSA washes its hands of these preventable injuries by putting out PSAs about driving safely but neglecting to issue motor vehicle safety standards for a dangerous vehicle design which they refuse to call a safety defect. But what are these injuries which have been documented for decades?

First, we look at the 2020 side underride near-fatal crash which recently had a $26 million verdict against a trucking company upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court, Iowa Supreme Court upholds $26 million payout for victim in 2020 near-fatal semi crash (court documents can be found here and here).

Crash Summary

In the Iowa Supreme Court brief, the estimated impact speed of the passenger vehicle was 32.7 mph from McQuillen’s expert and a minimum of 40 mph from West Side’s expert. Importantly, both speeds that surfaced in the appellate briefing are in the range where side underride guards are generally understood to provide protection.

Compare the above 2020 near-fatal side underride case to the NTSB investigation, #HWY16F018 (found here), of a 2016 Florida fatal side underride, NTSB investigated a 2016 side underride (which NHTSA inaccurately coded in FARS as No Underride Noted, but has now been corrected) . The victim iin this crash was Joshua Brown. See the similarities in the injuries incurred.

NTSB published an Injury Factual Report for that crash investigation (as documented by a NTSB biomechanical engineer and found here):

image.png

 Although 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 830 pertains to the reporting of aircraft accidents and incidents to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), section 830.2 defines fatal injury as any injury that results in death within 30 days of the accident and serious injury as any injury that (1) requires hospitalization for more than 48 hours, commencing within 7 days from the date of injury; (2) results in a fracture of any bone (except simple fractures of fingers, toes, or nose); (3) causes severe hemorrhages, nerve, or tendon damage; (4) involves any internal organ; or (5) involves second- or third-degree burns, or any burn affecting more than 5 percent of the body surface.

It should be noted that another biomechanical engineer, Mohammad Atarod, identified similar injuries after analyzing the injury data from crash test dummies used in Rear Impact Guard crash testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He shared this information, Biomechanics of Passenger Vehicle Underride, in a presentation to the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection in 2024.

The author’s SAE research paper can be found here: Reconstruction of Passenger Vehicle Underride: An Analysis of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Semitrailer Rear Underride Crash Data.

Additionally, a SAE 2020 side underride guard research paper by Garrett Mattos, et al, documents injury data with and without side guards in simulated crash testing, Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks (found online here) with results similar to the crash testing of the AngelWing side underride guard at 40 mph by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at the Second Underride Roundtable on August 29, 2017.

In stark contrast, in its 2023 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Side Impact Guards, NHTSA used the word injury 7 times and injuries 34 times:

Mention of Injuries in NHTSA 2023 Underride Regulatory Analysis

I see no description, in NHTSA’s lengthy regulatory analysis, of actual specific categories of injuries incurred in underride crashes, with lethal passenger compartment intrusion, beyond the generic use of the word “injury” or “serious injuries.” Nor is there any talk of “injury prevention.”

Why are we ignoring the severity of injuries which could be prevented by available engineering solutions? I survived a horrific truck crash with minor injuries because I did not experience intrusion of my survival space. I know that preventing underride is a matter of life or death. Enough of this spilled blood. Let’s make truck crashes more SURVIVABLE — because we can.

Stoughton Successfully Completes 40 MPH Rear Impact Guard Crash Test

Truck Safety, , , ,

Thank you, Stoughton Trailers, for leading the way in safety. At no added cost or weight to your customers.

Stoughton Trailers is proud to announce that it has successfully met the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) TOUGHGUARD® requirements at an elevated speed of 40 MPH, surpassing the 35-mph standard IIHS previously set for the van trailer industry.

Read more here: Stoughton Trailers Press Release

As I said in 2017, Stoughton Underride Guard Earns Kudos from Crash Survivor, Insurance Institute:

Upon learning of Stoughton’s decision to make this improved protection available on all of their new trailers, Karth said, “Stoughton’s cooperative efforts to improve the performance of its rear impact guard demonstrates a genuine commitment to safety. Stoughton is to be commended for taking a significant leadership role in design and safety. In my opinion, many lives will be saved as a result of Stoughton’s efforts.” 

  • Thanks to STOUGHTON’s improved Rear Impact Guard, Terry Rivet survived a truck crash in March 2017.
  • Stoughton Press Conference at TMC 2017 Conference
  • Speaking at Stoughton’s Press Conference in 2017
  • Stoughton’s Engineering Innovation won’t bring AnnaLeah & Mary back, but it will save others.

Other Stoughton achievements include the IIHS TOUGHGUARD Award in 2025 for their intermodal chassis: Insurance group approves first container chassis crash guard

Video from 2016 Crash Test: In this toughest IIHS underride guard test, 30 percent of the front of a midsize car strikes a parked Stoughton trailer at its outermost corner at 35 mph. Underride guards are weakest at the outer edges of a trailer.

Oh, by the way, Stoughton also has a side guard patent. Will they lead the way in fully guarding their trailers from underride and lethal passenger compartment intrusion?

STOP Underrides National Town Hall – SAVE THE DATE

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

Have you lost someone close to you, or in your community, because of a truck crash? Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. 

It can happen to anyone — even if their car has a 5-Star Safety Rating — like it has happened to tens of thousands of Americans including my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13). It can happen to you.

ALL HANDS ON DECK! Join a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom on
April 15 | 🕖 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

You will be able to tell your U.S. Senators and Representative that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026. This bill will make strong underride guards mandatory so that truck crashes become more SURVIVABLE.

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering can help us get this long-overdue legislation across the finish line. Please register below. We’d love to have you join TEAM Underride in this way.

April 15 | 🕖 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Ask your Members of Congress to participate, and multiply your voice by telling others about this opportunity.

Note: If you are unable to attend, please contact me at marianne@annaleahmary.com so we can help you to share your story with your Members of Congress.

STOP Underrides National Zoom Town Hall SAVE THE DATE – FRONT & BACK