Just tonight, someone heard the ringtone on my phone and smiled. It was one that Mary recorded not all that long before she died. I’ve left it on my phone.
How about that? Mary is still spreading joy.
(Well, now that makes me smile and cry at the same time.)
Hear her here:
Thank you, Mary.
I have been taking care of family needs (not to mention facing the challenges of this hard time of year) since the Underride Roundtable. There is so much which I want to write as a result of the Roundtable. But I want to get it right and make it clear.
Mostly, I am overwhelmed by both gratefulness that so many people came together to face the problem of truck underride together and, at the same time, the awareness that we aren’t done yet.
Quick look at the Underride Roundtable
One of the topics which I want to address is the issue which came up of whether to test and design for higher crash speeds than 35 mph. I asked about it at least two times. And, at one point, someone from the trucking industry raised the concern about deceleration forces causing injury at higher speeds.
This is an issue which pushes my button and I have written about it in the past. It was bothering me after the Underride Roundtable, and I emailed some people about it. This is what I sent to them:
I would like cleared up, once and for all, the misconception — if it is one — that deceleration forces would cause unintended injuries if the guards were made too strong. It pushes my button when I hear someone authoritatively say it — when I’m not sure that they are basing it on anything other than hearsay. I appreciated what Aaron Kiefer said in response to the comment made at the Roundtable about this and I would like it addressed so that it does not remain as one of the obstacles to more effective protection.
I had asked several people in the public health/injury prevention fields to attend but mostly they thought that underride was not their area of expertise. I, on the other hand, am convinced that we need the public health/medical people providing input.
As I have said many times, what people in the industry are saying does not make sense to me on many levels, including the fact that I survived a horrific truck crash and did so, as far as I am concerned, because I did not experience PCI/underride myself. I had many months of limping and leg cramps at night and painful neck and back tension probably due to whiplash and traumatic muscle memory. But that is all gone now and physically I am in great shape.
The Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association Reaction to IIHS Report: What is the Truth?
Setting the Record Straight: “Too Rigid” Underride Guards is a Myth
I received some very detailed responses to my question and will try to post them all tomorrow.
I am reminded of what Russ Rader, IIHS Communications VP, told me in May 2014–that it was safer to run into a brick wall than the back of a truck.
FMCSA and FRA to Host Public Listening Sessions on Obstructive Sleep Apnea among Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers and Rail Workers – See more at: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/fmcsa-and-fra-host-public-listening-sessions-obstructive-sleep-apnea-among-commercial-motor#sthash.0ekKDOVU.dpuf:
May 12, Washington, D.C.
May 17, Chicago
May 25, Los Angeles
There are many factors which may contribute to driver fatigue–sleep apnea is one, along with the pressure to reach a destination and put many hours on the road in order to make a living (wage compensation), not to mention the monotony of long hours on the road.
Articles on truck driver fatigue:
Long-distance truck drivers on overnight or early morning routes are even more susceptible to the effects of sleep deprivation than during normal daylight hours because of disruptions to their natural sleep patterns by working nights or long and irregular hours. Additional factors that may contribute to fatigue while driving a commercial truck include darkness and monotonous driving environments (Hanowski, et al., 1998).
Sleep apnea is one problem that needs attention. But to take the problem of truck driver fatigue seriously, we need to cover all the bases. https://annaleahmary.com/driver-fatigue/
President Obama, please establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force to address deadly truck driver fatigue, along with many other traffic safety issues: Letter to President Obama from the Karth Family
Life & Death Traffic Safety Problems Deserve Proper Treatment: Not Political Tug-of-War Game!
Methods for testing the level of a driver’s possible impairment from marijuana is more complex than a simple blood level of the substance. Some states in which marijuana is legal are apparently using tests which could produce flawed results. Other states are set to follow their example.
The foundation recommends replacing the laws with ones that rely on specially trained police officers to determine if a driver is impaired, backed up by a test for the presence of THC rather than a specific threshold. The officers are supposed to screen for dozens of indicators of drug use, from pupil dilation and tongue color to behavior. Study: No scientific basis for laws on marijuana and driving
Here is yet another example of a traffic safety problem which could be addressed more effectively through a White House Vision Zero Task Force. Then, once such a Task Force were to recommend an appropriate law and testing technique, all states could be required to follow suit–without having to reinvent the wheel 50 time over.
In this month of May, not only do we remember our girls, AnnaLeah (forever 17) and Mary (13), but also the multitude of caring people who surrounded our entire family with love and prayer and tangible support in the aftermath of a crash which shattered our world and broke our hearts.
We will never be able to thank them all enough, but I like to try. From Georgia to North Carolina to Michigan to Texas to Indiana–and many other places far & wide–there were people caught up in the tragedy with us. Please know that we will never forget.
Photo Album from Trip which Jerry and I took to Georgia, December 2013
As I think about the fact that now three years have gone by since a truck driver hit our car and sent us into the back of another truck where the underride guard failed, I know that those few seconds have changed my life forever. What happened in an instant, ended what could have been a long, full life for Mary and AnnaLeah. And the rest of my life stretches out before me — without them.
UPDATE August 19, 2018: For current WAYS TO HELP: https://annaleahmary.com/how-you-can-help/
Write to Obama and let him know that you think that crash deaths need to addressed as a National Public Health Problem. Go here to contact him: white house.gov/contact form
Ask President Obama to read our Vision Zero Petition Book, which was delivered to him at the White House in March.
(Note: When the Contact Form asks you for a Subject, click on Transportation.)
Letter to President Obama from the Karth Family
Vision Zero Book by Marianne Karth for President Obama
Thank you for your support!
Tell Obama you are standing with us in this: “Family Continues Fight for Trucking Safety”
Every day’s a holiday with Mary. . . remembering Simply Mary Moments
A Short Film produced & directed by Isaac Karth & Samuel Karth, and starring Mary Lydia Karth: Gremlins in the Basement
And, I love this! Spontaneous moments with Mary (about age 6)–trailer from the making of the above film with her older brothers, Gremlins in the Basement:
Living and loving and grieving and giving. Carrying on day by day.
Today, I pulled out some clothes for church and realized after I did that the skirt was the one which I bought after the crash. All of my clothes, which I had packed for the trip on May 4, 2013, were destroyed in the crash. So, while driving from the hospital in Athens, Georgia, to Arlington, Texas, to be with all of our children (minus 2), Jerry and I stopped at a Cracker Barrel, and I picked out a lovely skirt. The next day was Mother’s Day–one week after our crash.
Today marks the day Mary died in 2013. I will get no more Mother’s Day greetings from her. Or from AnnaLeah.
Here’s a card from Mary many years ago when I came home from a trip somewhere.
Grief is so complicated:
How a truck crash irrevocably changed the month of May & every other month for that matter.
I’m having a special day today–thanks to my children and my husband. And I am grateful for it. But while I’m waiting to enjoy the meal they are preparing, I have to admit . . . what is it that I am trying to say?
AnnaLeah and Mary, I will never stop missing you. You are my daughters–from life’s first cry to final breath and all through eternity.
It is Ascension Sunday–the day we remember how Jesus left us until that day when He will return again. How ironic: Today is May 8, the day we lost Mary, Mother’s Day, and Ascension Sunday.
None of these words take away the pain of losing you:
How a Truck Crash Changed the Month of May; or What Happens When Nobody Takes Responsibility?
Mary had a neighborhood friend when we lived in Midland, Texas. Briley was younger than Mary, but they had great fun together. When Briley moved closer to Dallas, they kept in touch and Mary loved it when Briley would stop in to see her during visits back in Midland.
Last month, Briley’s dad contacted me and let me know that Briley had decided that she wanted to write a letter to us. I was so excited and treasured the letter when it came. I decided to wait until May 8 — the day that Mary left us — to share this letter.
Mary was full of joy herself and she brought others right along with her as she enjoyed life. How she loved to laugh! And she loved the song, “Every day’s a holiday with Mary!”
Thank you, Briley, for being a friend to Mary. She valued your friendship. And thank you for helping me at this time when I miss her so very much — when I can hardly believe that she and her sister are no longer with us. How can it be?
Here’s a photo album of Mary and AnnaLeah with some of their friends: Friends, we will remember you…
And another photo album: Sarah Eaton’s Photos of AnnaLeah & Mary
Mary’s Backyard Adventures in Midland, Texas:
If your eyes are glazing over from my endless posts on truck safety, this one is a little different. Dawn King, president of the Truck Safety Coalition, lost her dad in a truck crash. She talks here about what she saw and experienced at the amazing Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016. Thanks for sharing, Dawn.
Read it here (include crash test video): Crash dummy survives!
