Category Archives: AnnaLeah and Mary

Back Seat Deaths @POTUS The causes of preventable crash deaths are endless:Adopt #VisionZero Now!

April 29, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetyauto safety defects, Vision Zero, Vision Zero Executive Order, Vision Zero Task ForceMarianne

Did you know that 898 children have been killed in rear-end collisions in the past 15 years, all of them sitting in the back seat. Front seat hidden danger kills children in cars

And I discovered, when we participated in an underride crash test on March 13, that the contents of car trunks can push the rear seat forward. . .

The causes of preventable crash deaths are endless. A National Vision Zero Goal, White House Vision Zero Task Force, and Vision Zero Executive Order have the potential to more effectively address these issues. What are we waiting for?

Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America! #VisionZero

How a truck crash irrevocably changed the month of May & every other month for that matter.

April 28, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetybittersweet memories, grief, memoriesMarianne

So. . . my family is planning a special Mother’s Day. It was fun to listen to them plan the menu–homemade carrot cheesecake & strawberry pie, grilled chicken, veggies, rolls–preceded by an outing to see Captain America/Civil War. Looking forward to it.

And I am looking forward to it–figuring, of course, that I will wish AnnaLeah & Mary could be with us to help celebrate and go to the movie with us.

Then, after hearing the grand plans to make it memorable, I suddenly realized that Mother’s Day this year is May 8. The day we lost Mary. . .

I will try my best to live in the moment but. . .

That is how a truck crash irrevocably changed the month of May: How a Truck Crash Changed the Month of May; or What Happens When Nobody Takes Responsibility?

And every other month for that matter.

Truck Underride Roundtable is one week away! May it be sehr gut!

April 28, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck SafetyATA, NHTSA rulemaking, TTMA, underride crash, underride guards, underride roundtable, Vision ZeroMarianne

On June 25, 2014, after a tour of the research & design center of a truck trailer manufacturer in Georgia, I wrote down these perplexing thoughts about the too-long unresolved underride problem:

Now, it is understandable, amid the multitude of demands and the tyranny of the urgent, that—without a ready solution, in fact, one which would require time and money to develop—this problem has not been given much attention. But, if those who bear responsibility for making sure that this problem gets solved (one way or another) had lost two of their beloved children—or any other loved one—I can guarantee you that they would have moved heaven and earth to find a way to prevent underride.

What makes it even more distressing is that there are many individuals and organizations, who truly seem concerned about safety, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and the trailer manufacturers. Yet, from what I can see, very little communication has taken place to move this problem forward from point A (guards that fail and result in death and/or horrific injuries) to Point B (coming up with a better design that will provide the best protection possible). Underride Guards: Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out?

From where I stood, there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for this life-ending/changing problem. I had lots of ideas about what needed to be done but no sense that any thing was going to get done about it any time in the near future.

So, in trying to process what we learned at the meeting, I kept thinking over and over: Could an independent work group of qualified individuals, such as an engineering school, take on the challenge of creating such a design—which could then be tested by IHHS, proposed to NHTSA to aid in defining improved rear impact guard specifications, and provided to all trailer manufacturers? Could we do some kind of crowd funding or grant proposal to obtain the necessary funds to support such an endeavor? Could we perhaps even approach the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA) and ask them to seek contributions from their members for such a project?

Is cost truly not a factor? Is safety really a priority and not a competitive matter? Is it possible to improve the communication necessary to prevent more unnecessary deaths? Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out?

I am so happy to be able to say that at the Underride Roundtable, one week from now on May 5, 2016, over 65 representatives from the trucking industry, government, safety advocates, engineers, crash reconstructionists, attorneys, and media will be on hand at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center to”sit down at the table together” and discuss and demonstrate truck underride crashes.

This group will include representatives from:

Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association
American Trucking Associations
Seven Hills Engineering
Airflow Deflector
Accident Research Specialists
Sapa Extrusions
Truck Safety Coalition
AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
Virginia Tech
East Carolina University
National Transportation Safety Board, Office of Highway Safety
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
J. Hunt Transport
Batzer Engineering
Injury and Crash Analysis
Vanguard Trailer
Smart Cap Technologies
UNC Highway Safety Research Center
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center
Interstate Distributor
NYC Citywide Adminstrative Services
Nurenberg Paris Law Firm
Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance
Sanders & Parks Law Firm
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Cargo Transporters
Stoughton Trailers
Great Dane Trailers
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
City of Boston, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics
Interstate Distributors
Media representatives
Underride victims and families
and joined by an unknown number of individuals globally as the event will be livestreaming at this webcast link.

It is unfortunate that, over the decades in which no adequate solution to this tragic problem has come about, there has been much miscommunication, misunderstanding, misinformation, and mistakes made. I, for one, am ready to encourage things to move forward with positive momentum–aiming for the best possible underride protection.

In my morning reading, I was reflecting on some verses in Mark 11, which reminded me that the outcome is not totally dependent on me or any of the others who will be gathering in Ruckersville, Virginia, next Thursday. Instead, we are to. . .

“Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going go happen; it shall be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.” Mark 11:22-24

And one more key thing, no matter what has and has not been done during the decades following the discovery of the horror of underride, we all need to forgive, put the past behind us, and find ways to work together to overcome this challenge.

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions.” Mark 11:25

And though we may forgive, we will never forget those we have lost and the reason we are here. . .

Was this drawing made by Mary or AnnaLeah? There’s no one to tell me the answer.

April 27, 2016AnnaLeah and Marybittersweet memories, grief, memoriesMarianne

This morning, my granddaughter was showing me drawings that she has been making. It made me think of how creative AnnaLeah & Mary were (each in her own way) and the sketchbooks which I have in a drawer. I got one of them out and then was confused: was this drawing made by Mary or AnnaLeah? And when was it made?

There is no one here to answer my questions.

Webcast Link now available for May 5 IIHS Truck Underride Roundtable

April 27, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetyunderride guards, underride roundtable, Vision ZeroMarianne

I just received the webcast link for the upcoming Truck Underride Roundtable at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS):

Webcast Link for Truck Underride Roundtable at IIHS on May 5, 2016

Eagerly awaiting the revelation of joy unspeakable–together!

April 22, 2016AnnaLeah and Maryfaith, grief, memoriesMarianne

AnnaLeah and Mary,

I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,

so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Love, Mom

I read these verses this morning and immediately thought of AnnaLeah and Mary. I had been planning on writing a post on April 28, the day of Mary’s Confirmation Questioning in 2013–the Sunday before our crash on May 4–though she never went through her formal Confirmation Service (was to have been in June).

I am thankful for the life and faith of AnnaLeah and Mary Lydia and that they are eagerly awaiting the revelation of their Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, who will confirm them to the end, until we all–together–stand in His presence. Joy unspeakable!

A simple song sung by a mother with simple trust in the Father for the gifts He has given & still to come.

Underride Roundtable To Consider Underride Research From Around the Globe

April 22, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetyunderide guards, underride research, underride roundtableMarianne

On May 5, 2016, over 65 representatives from the trucking industry, government, safety advocates, engineers, crash reconstructionists, attorneys, and media will be on hand at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center to discuss and demonstrate truck underride crashes.

In addition, the Underride Roundtable, which will be taking place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will be available to watch via livestreaming–with viewer interaction anticipated. The webcast link will be provided here when it is available.

Webcast Link to the Underride Roundtable is now ready for registration for this upcoming event! Webcast Link for Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Underride Roundtable

Underride Roundtable Agenda May 5, 2016

Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition

Truck Underride Roundtable is one week away! May it be sehr gut!

In order to prepare for that, I am going to highlight some past and current underride research papers and efforts here. It will, of course, not cover everything and others are welcome to send additional information my way, which I would be more than happy to add to the list.

Although most of the research below will not appear as a presentation on the agenda, I am hopeful that the information will be considered by all as recommendations for underride protection are discussed and proposed.

I had actually wanted to put together a packet of this kind of information to hand out to participants. Then I thought that it might be more useful to provide it to a wider audience by posting it on our website. So here it is.

In addition, I have prepared a feedback form to enable you to let me know what you think should be done about truck underride protection. I am hoping to get a good response and will compile any results which I receive before the Underride Roundtable, as well as after the event.

Please print my Dragon Underride Protector Wish List, fill in your answers, scan it, and email it to me at marianne@annaleahmary.com.

Although I don’t know all the names and details, I imagine that there are countless individuals and organizations who have contributed, over a span of many years, to the discussion and development of underride protection. I am thankful that we can build upon that foundation.

Here is some of the research which I have come across in my search for the best possible protection.

Update, May 21, 2016: Other Research Not Listed Below: See this post, Other Research Which Should Not Be Ignored in Current Underride Rulemaking

Australian Underride Research:

Truck Underride Prevention Research Too Long Neglected; How Long Will This Highway Carnage Continue?, includes crash test video footage & links to research papers/reports
Good news from Australia: A Stronger Rear Underride Guard Rule Has Been Proposed!
Australian engineers champion the cause of better truck underride protection
The Future of Underride Prevention: A conversation with underride researcher from Australia
Under-runRaphCommittee
Side Underride Paper Rechnitzer and Grzebieta
Side Underrun Barriers Rechnitzer & Grzetieta

Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Team:

Aaron Kiefer (North Carolina) Innovative Side/Rear Underride Research:

German Researchers:

Detlef Alwes: Flyer Truck RUP 2015_fb1 Detlef Alwe Detlef Alwes Underrun Protection System Presentation1_2016 (1) & Detlef Alwes aus Bad Honnef entwickelte Unterfahrschutz (go here to get this translated: German to English Translation)
Andreas Ratzek, ADAC, Munchen, Germany: Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mplKzl57uq4 Position Papers: ADAC Underrun Protection Position Paper _Unterfahrschutz_EN_12_12_04 and ADAC Underrun Protection Standpunkt Heckunterfahrschutz_EN

34 Public Comments on the current NHTSA Rear Underride Rulemaking can be found here: NPRM Upgrade Underide.

73 Public Comments on the current ANPRM for Single Unit Trucks: ANPRM Underride Protection of Single Unit Trucks

Please note this comment in particular: Perry Ponder, Seven Hills Engineering, Comment from Seven Hills Engineering, LLC with reference to a 1969 DOT document indicating their intention to extend underride protection to the sides of large vehicles: Regulators, manufacturers, & advocates need to read this engineer’s comment on truck underride

Also, note that Seven Hills sponsored a Senior Capstone Project at FSU College of Engineering in 2010/11 to design a side guard: Side Underride Guard w/ Aerodynamic Fairing – Senior Design Fall 2010—Spring 2011

Other:

Dean Sicking & Kevin Schrum have submitted a proposal for underride research & design based on technology which could provide underride protection in extreme crash conditions: Development of Trailer Underride Preventive Measures and AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety is excited to begin raising money to support NASCAR’s safety hero, Dean Sicking, research for SAFER Truck Underride Guards. and Unexpected Visit With a Hopeful Underride Research Engineer
Wabash National has designed a stronger rear underride guard: Thank you, Wabash, for creating a safer truck rear underride guard! And Stoughton will be having their new guard crash tested at the Roundtable. And Manac has already had theirs tested: The Best Possible Protection.
Bruce Enz, Injury & Crash Analysis (Indiana), Injury & Crash Analysis Underride Research
Trucker, Jeff Halling recommends keeping in mind the docking requirements: https://www.facebook.com/groups/494507530713925/permalink/628529627311714/
Andy Young, truck litigation attorney, truck owner, Piercing the Passenger Compartment–Voluntary Efforts to Stop the Horrors of Underride Truck Crashes and Andy Young-BIO and UNDERRIDE TRUCK CRASHES – WORSE THAN HITTING A BRICK WALL Andy Young
Airflow Deflector will be participating in the Roundtable and I will look forward to finding out more about their side underride protection, particularly for City Trucks to protect Vulnerable Road Users: Airflow Deflector; Airflow Deflector Video and Truck Side Guards for Vision Zero – NYC
Underride Network, I have become aware of many researchers through information made available on the Underride Network website. Stephen Hadley, manager of this website: Underride Network want list for topics at IIHS Underride Roundtable
Byron Bloch has shared with us from his vast experience with truck underride: IMPROVED CRASHWORTHY DESIGNS FOR TRUCK UNDERRIDE GUARDS & Let’s Move From: “A Failure of Compassion, & Tactics of Conceal-‐Delay-‐Deny While Fiery Crashes Occur” to a “Vision of Zero Fatalities”
Jerry Karth‘s Public Comments on the underride rulemaking: Comment from Jerry Karth and Public Comment on the NPRM for Rear Underride Guards on Trailers by Jerry Karth pdf
My comment on the Single Unit Truck ANPRM: Marianne Karth – Comment and March Historically a Momentous Month for Truck Underride Safety Advocacy 2 and Truck Underride A Practical Application of a Vision Zero Goal Marianne Karth Public Comment
Large Truck Crash Study, Matthew Brumbelow, IIHS: CRASH TEST PERFORMANCE OF LARGE TRUCK REAR UNDERRIDE GUARDS
IIHS Large Truck Status Report Articles: Large trucks About 1 in 10 highway deaths occurs in a crash involving a large truck.
Much, much more can be found about truck underride at our website: Underride Guards Page and Underride Guards Posts on annaleahmary.com

And last, but not least, out of the mouths of babes. . .

NOTE: I will likely be updating this post as we get closer to the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016! And, of course, I can hardly wait to post the results of the Roundtable itself!

In memory of AnnaLeah & Mary, Precious Ones whose lives were cut far too short.

Same old/same old: Senate Prepares To Make Truck Safety Even Worse, Advocates Warn

April 20, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetydriver fatigue, grief, HOSMarianne

No matter who causes a truck crash, the victims pay the price. This country needs to understand that there is a better way to resolve traffic safety problems than through a political tug-of-war!

After my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), were killed in a truck crash almost three years ago on May 4, 2013, I have had my eyes opened and would like others to listen to what I have to say.

We can do better than continue to put our heads in the sand and think that these horrific, preventable, tragic deaths will go away by handling these problems the same old way.

What is being done now to address traffic safety issues is just not working: Senate Prepares To Make Truck Safety Even Worse, Advocates Warn

If you could walk in my shoes (and those of the hundreds of thousands of other Americans who have lost loved ones this way) and bear the unnecessary grief on a daily basis, then you might be able to understand the frustration of knowing that something better could be done about this–but ISN’T.

Are you listening, Congress, everyone involved in the trucking industry and traffic safety advocacy, and especially, right now, President Obama?!

Life & Death Traffic Safety Problems Deserve Proper Treatment: Not Political Tug-of-War Game!

AnnaLeah & Mary, we miss you so much!

Towards Zero: There’s no one someone won’t miss.

Comment on Huffington Post article

“Trucks Are Getting More Dangerous And Drivers Are Falling Asleep At The Wheel. Thank Congress.”

April 17, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck SafetyDOT rulemaking, driver fatigue, trucking industry, trucking lobby, Vision ZeroMarianne

If you are at all concerned about the possibility of you, or someone you know, being in a truck crash, READ this Huffington Post (April 16, 2016) article: Trucks Are Getting More Dangerous And Drivers Are Falling Asleep At The Wheel. Thank Congress.

Here is a comment on the article from the Advocates for Auto & Highway Safety:

This is a terrific expose by Huffington Post that appeared in yesterday’s edition about the growing influence of special trucking interests in their continuing efforts to roll back truck safety rules including hours of service (HOS) and bypass the authorizing committees by using the Appropriations Committees. . . We learned on Friday that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee will likely take up the FY2017 transportation funding bill on Tuesday with full Appropriations Committee mark-up on Thursday. . . We anticipate that the trucking industry will continue to try to block going back to the Obama Administration hours of service rule with more language and several states are seeking truck size and weight exemptions.

This is a very lengthy article which, for the most part, delves into the problem of truck driver fatigue (and the horrific, often fatal, crashes which all too often occur) and the pressure that the trucking industry continues to put on Congress with the result of making our roads less safe instead of more safe.

Please read and share this very informative article. It needs to be heard.

It only serves to emphasize the importance of our call for President Obama to set a National Vision Zero Goal, establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force, and sign a Vision Zero Executive Order. Are you listening, President Obama?

Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America! #VisionZero

Here are some of the topics which this tell-it-like-it-is article covers:

There were several other industry requests in that funding bill for 2016, including a measure that aimed to extend the suspension of sleep rules that Collins had won just six months earlier. Her suspension lasted a year and required regulators to look into the effectiveness of requiring two nights of sleep and whether there was any case for the trucking industry’s position. But rather than see that process through, the new provision changed the study mid-stream and called for gathering even more data — including the regulation’s impact on the longevity of drivers. Studying workers’ lifespans, of course, takes entire lifespans. That provision was signed into law with the 2016 spending bill that ultimately passed.

“They just basically want to stall this forever,” said Rep. David Price (N.C.), the top Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee that deals with transportation.

Another measure the industry pushed last year aimed to short-circuit federal regulators’ efforts to evaluate raising insurance requirements for trucking companies. Currently, carriers have to maintain the same $750,000 policies they did in the ‘80s. The industry’s argument is that independent operators would not be able to afford higher premiums — and indeed, DND’s margins were so close it shut down when its insurance company raised rates after the Balder crash. The industry argues that 99 percent of truck accidents do not generate such high damages. But $750,000 doesn’t begin to cover the costs a serious semi wreck incurs. For instance, a widower whose wife was killed and children severely injured by a dozing driver in 2010 won $41 million in damages. The family of James McNair, the comedian who died in the Tracy Morgan crash, settled for $10 million in March last year. A somewhat weakened version of the measure did pass, requiring regulators to evaluate a number of different factors before they adjust the insurance requirements.

Another industry-backed provision aimed to hide the BASIC safety measurements for trucking companies from public view, and bar their use in lawsuits. The lawsuit provision was dropped from the spending bill during negotiations, but the BASIC scores were in fact hidden and removed from the agency’s website. The industry used a Government Accountability Office study that found the safety system could do better in some respects to justify its position, but the two firms involved in the Velasquez crash had exactly the sort of poor safety scores that the BASIC system predicts make them more likely to be involved in accidents.

Despite the fact that these provisions will likely have an impact on the safety of nearly 11 million large trucks registered in America, they were all buried in legislation that Congress had to pass to avoid a government shutdown, with little to no debate about whether they were a good idea.

“The advocates of relaxing the rules or eliminating the rules, they see that and think this is their train to catch. … Not just wait on the normal process, or count on something as pedestrian as actual hearings or discussion, but to make a summary judgement and latch it on to an appropriations bill,” Price said.

There’s something else all the industry-backed measures have in common: They are deeply unpopular.

The article focused on a truck crash in which a tired trucker plowed into the back of a State Trooper’s Crown Vic while he was on the side of a tollway assisting another trucker. Not exactly our circumstance, but made me tense up just reading about it. See our Crown Vic here:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy

Each time a layer of apparent deception is peeled away, I am incensed at what seems like betrayal.

April 15, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safetymanufacturer liability, underride guards, underride roundtable, Vision ZeroMarianne

Our particular crash was, of course, due to the failure (for whatever reason) of a truck driver to maintain lane and hitting our car so that we went backwards under another truck. I, and my son in the front seat with me, survived that crash. But, because the underride guard failed to do its intended job, Mary and AnnaLeah (in the backseat) experienced an untimely and unnatural end to their lives.

My question is: Should someone be held accountable for the failure of that federally-required piece of equipment which resulted in two deaths? Is the manufacturer liable to prevent someone from being killed when they collide with a truck? And, mind you, expecting them to do so would not be some pie-in-the-sky kind of expectation. It has been proven that protection is possible from much worse circumstances than are currently required.

Every time another layer of apparent deception is peeled away, I am incensed anew at what seems like betrayal. How many times have decisions been made over a span of decades that have deliberately blocked a strengthening of protection against truck underride? How many people have looked the other way? Surely this is not just a case of ignorance on the part of all persons involved.

The Judicial third branch of the government has provided little hope for ensuring that the truck/trailer manufacturer will be held responsible for the failure of their product, upon collision with it, to prevent horrible, unnecessary death. I was reminded of that unfortunate reality again, when we were in Washington to deliver the Vision Zero Petition, as the topic came up again related to our crash.

In fact, upon a simple search of the internet, I found this example of the difficulty of pinning liability upon the manufacturer:

Defendant . . . avers that despite the truth of these facts, it owed no duty to persons such as plaintiff’s decedent who crash into the rear of its trailers. . . . maintains that there is no duty to design, manufacture and sell a trailer which is “accident-proof” that is, able to protect “invaders” or “trespassers” who run into the trailer and later seek legal redress U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama – 816 F. Supp. 1525 (M.D. Ala. 1993) March 26, 1993.

What?! So there you have it. At least some manufacturers are willing to fight for their right to avoid ethical responsibility for designing their product to be safe to travel around.

Few have been able to bring about a successful judgment against manufacturers, although some have tried: See Beattie v. Lindelof, 633 N.E.2d 1227 (Ill. App. Ct. 1994); Mieher v. Brown, 301 N.E.2d 307 (Ill. 1973), but cf. Harris v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 234 F.3d 398 (8th Cir. 2000) (Arkansas law); Buzzard v. Roadrunner Trucking, Inc., 966 F.2d 777 (3d Cir. 1992) (Pennsylvania law); Rivers v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 816 F. Supp. 1525 (M.D. Ala. 1993);Worldwide Equipment, Inc., v. Mullins, 11 S.W.3d 50 (Ky. Ct. App. 1999); Detillier v. Sullivan, 714 So.2d 244 (La. Ct. App. 1998); Quay v. Crawford, 788 So.2d 76 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001);Garcia v. Rivera, 553 N.Y.S.2d 378 (N.Y. App. Div. 1990); Hagan v. Gemstate Mfg., Inc., 982 P.2d 1108 (Or. 1999); Great Dane Trailers, Inc. v. Wells, 52 S.W.3d 77 (Tex. 2001).

In one case, a court reasoned that:

the manufacturer is obliged to secure the occupants of only its vehicle from that foreseeable harm: the manufacturer does not owe a duty to protect those who collide with its vehicle. See Mieher, 301 N.E.2d at 308-10; but see id. at 310-11 (Goldenhersh, J. dissenting) (arguing that the duty of care should extend to prevent unreasonable risk to occupants, other drivers, and pedestrians).

In my mind, the question remains: Does the manufacturer owe travelers on the road the duty to exercise reasonable care in designing its motor vehicle?

One author takes a look at this question:

Does a vehicle manufacturer owe a duty to design a vehicle with which it is safe to collide? The Illinois Supreme Court said no in the case of an underride accident, where one vehicle rear-ended a truck and proceeded unimpeded under its bed. The decision unleashed an ongoing debate over the concept of “enhanced injury,” where a manufacturer can be liable for defects in its vehicle that cause injuries over and above those that would have occurred from the accident but for a defective design. Illinois vehicle manufacturers have no duty to protect non-occupants who collide with their vehicles

As it stands, it appears to me that, in general, the manufacturing community is prone to protect themselves from legal impunity rather than protect travelers on the road. I would welcome the opportunity to hear differently.

So, how then do we bring about a more responsible solution to this solvable underride problem? In addition to considering how we might impact each of the three branches of our government, we have also sought for, and encouraged, voluntary action on the part of truck/trailer manufacturers–which has met with some limited success. For the most part, the manufacturers tend to take a wait-and-see attitude–particularly when NHTSA is in the midst of rulemaking–rather than take the initiative to simply go ahead and design a guard which is capable of preventing deadly underride in real life crashes.

I am thankful for the upcoming Underride Roundtable because these questions need to be addressed, once and for all. And I, for one, am unwilling to sit by and watch another underride rule be compromised so that travelers on the road continue to unwittingly play a game wherein too many people will inevitably be dealt a card with a Death by Underride sentence written all over it.

I hope that, this time around, the truth of the matter will be fully revealed and all will agree upon a comprehensive solution which offers the best possible protection. I don’t want any more people to needlessly lose their lives or suffer the unrelenting grief (complicated by anger and helpless frustration) which families like mine undergo.

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