Category Archives: AnnaLeah and Mary

Careless Attitudes Can Contribute to Unnecessary Deaths

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

Over and over, I hear the litany: “Yes, that is important (fixing a design flaw), but what we really want to do is stop crashes.”

Yes, I want to stop/prevent crashes as well. That is very important to me. But, it seems to me, such an attitude displays a lack of commitment to fixing design flaws and indicates a disregard for lives lost due to delays and inadequate improvements.

In other words, Safety Is Not REALLY a Priority and so–in my mind–there are too many people whose actions contribute to unlawful deaths. I am not trying to imply that they act knowingly & intentionally. But the end result is the same: preventable & tragic deaths.

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Unfortunately, “they” apparently don’t see it that way. However, I’m quite sure that they would get it if one of their loved ones was killed by a “defective product”; money would not be an object and they would be searching day and night–just like me–to find a solution to the problem. And, just like me, designing the best possible protection as quickly as possible would become their goal.

headstone

This has been my opinion for awhile now (months which are turning into years following that tragic day: May 4, 2013)–ever since I was in a truck crash which I survived and my daughters did not (the underride guard did not prevent them from going under the truck). And I have written about it before:

But every time I run across this attitude again, it creates fresh pain and frustration. It leads to hopelessness about things ever truly changing to prevent further heartbreak, like in a phone call which I had recently where I heard it again: “We want to do something about [this defect] but we really want to prevent crashes.” I do, too. But that does not negate the importance of making vital improvements in order to make crashes–when they inevitably do occur–less likely to end in death.

Let’s not allow product liability to be treated lightly. [http://tinyurl.com/o69fgua] Somebody needs to be held responsible for NEGLIGENCE which leads to horrific injury and/or death. Before it is too late. . .

For example, read this account of the recent $150 million settlement in the death of a child, Remington Cole Walden, in a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee:

When manufacturers are not held responsible legally or ethically for identifying and providing the best possible protection but are allowed to look the other way–sweeping the problems under a rug–then no one is truly held accountable for deaths. The result–too often–is that there is no change or the change is too little or comes too late for too many loved ones.

This careless attitude is seen in those whose reckless actions–with a disregard for the lives of others–end in crash fatalities for other reasons as well. What will it take to shake us out of our complacency? Government regulations, law enforcement, stiffer consequences for those held responsible? Death of a loved one?

certificates and pens 010

AnnaLeah and Mary had their lives abruptly ended–like so many others. That is not natural. Were it not for the reckless actions of others, they, too, like Abraham and Job could have died “a ripe old age. . . and satisfied with life.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+15%3A15&version=NKJV  and  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A8&version=NASB )

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We Rescue Jesus Saves 018

Sign & Share our Vision Zero Petition:   http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Real Pain, Real Peace

AnnaLeah and Mary, ,

I have put off writing this because, as much as I feel the need to write it, I don’t know if I can truly put into words what it is that I want to say. I’ll start off by saying that this will be a conglomeration of thoughts which have probably been swirling around ever since the crash.

Real pain. Real peace. Has that been the struggle going on inside of me ever since I found myself in the hospital faced with the fear and then the verified, unthinkable news that tragedy had struck our family?

Well, certainly I have known real pain. Comes and goes–mostly comes, and at unexpected moments. Like finding a DVD cover which fell out of a cabinet and being struck with the memory of the day when we were at a Goodwill store–in Rochester, Minnesota, I think. While I looked at clothes and AnnaLeah looked at books, Mary looked at DVDs and found that delightful movie, Follow Me, Boys! While it was a good and pleasant memory, and I’m so very glad that I have it, at that moment it stirred up pain in me.

Follow Me Boys cover

The other day, Vanessa asked me (out of the blue), “Does pain fix sadness?”

Me: “Well. . .?”

Vanessa: Runs off to play. . .

I don’t know. Will the pain which I am going through eventually “fix” my sadness? Is the pain a process–or at least a signal or indication that a process of healing is taking place? If I were not feeling the pain, would it be harder to complete that process? Will the pain ever lessen?

I have also known real peace in this season. It also comes and goes–seeming elusive. Comes mostly when I am focused on the promises of God–in word or song–like the song I sang at their funeral, In Christ Alone. I really believed it then and I believe it now. It just seems in stiff competition with the real pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLy8ksqGf9w

Read a book the other day–a novel by Lisa McKay. One paragraph jumped out at me. It was an apt description of this very dilemma, maybe not perfect and I have not totally wrapped my mind around it, but I wanted to share it. The book’s characters had just sung It Is Well With My Soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHe_qmo3gX4

“I remembered that the writer of the hymn had penned this just after his four daughters had been confirmed drowned after their ship went down. I breathed deeply against the now-familiar tight ache in my agony. The hymn writer, Spafford, and his children, Mani and his parents. Real pain and real peace. It felt like trying to marry two mental magnets; the closer I tried to push them together, the harder they resisted my pressure.“

   (p. 166, My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay)
 

Then today, while Vanessa was resting and recovering from a tummy ache, I put another DVD on for her to watch–another one that Mary had found at a Goodwill store: Veggie Tales, How to Draw.

Vanessa (5) loves arts & crafts and, like I had discovered when I had followed its instructions some time ago, it is quite good at helping even novice artists to make a pretty good replica of the Veggie Tales characters. So I was pleased to see her engaged in the process:

Vanessa's Madame Blueberry drawing Veggie Tales How to Draw DVD cover

Vanessa’s Drawing of Madame Blueberry 3/28/15

Previous Post of Mary’s Veggie Tale Drawings: http://tinyurl.com/q8qbuqn

Real pain that Mary and AnnaLeah are not here to draw with Vanessa and that they are only a memory–nevermore to be in this earthly life.

Real peace that they were a part of our lives, that they touch our lives even now, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have promised to be with me until I can one day see AnnaLeah and Mary again. In His presence. Joy Unspeakable.

AnnaLeah and Marybraids and giraffe 011

getting farther away patch of blue

Too Often, Too Little, Too Late; A Conspiracy of Silence

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

AnnaLeah and MaryIMG_20140508_114515_341

What would account for the fact that–Too Often–we humans tend to ignore dangers that lurk in the background waiting to take a life? What is it that causes us to do Too Little to prevent injury or death? Why does it take a death to wake us up and stir us up to try and do better–all Too Late for Someone?

Years ago, I worked with someone who became my friend. After a time, she had a baby who quickly became her new primary focus. I’ll call the baby Joy because she was her mama’s joy.

18 month project report

“Joy” at 18 months, 1983 (?)

We more-or-less kept in touch with Christmas cards, until one Christmas–16 years later–our former boss included a news article with her card to me: Joy had been killed when the car she was riding in was hit by a train.

Of course, my friend was devastated and despite my attempts to reach out to her, I have never heard from her again. I assumed that it was just too hard for her–knowing that I was the happy mother of nine living children.

Fast forward to 2013, when I, too, experienced the awful devastation of losing a child [make that two] to an unexpected, horrific, potentially-preventable, premature death due to a car crash [this time hit by a truck]. Now I understood what my friend had faced.

Just recently, I tried to reach out to her again–to no avail–after I ran across the news article and the picture of baby “Joy” when going through boxes at our home. I re-read the details of the crash and discovered that there had been no flashers or guard at the fateful railroad crossing–less than a mile from her high school.

As a bereaved-mom-become-safety-advocate, I wanted to know if something had been done to improve safety at the site of that crash 34 years ago. I was encouraged to find out, from the township responsible for that section of roads, that they had bypassed the option of flashers and guards and immediately closed off that particular dirt road where it crossed the tracks.

A good move. Chances are it saved someone. But it was Too Late for Joy.

Why does it Too Often take a death to wake us up to the dangers that were there all along? I will share more thoughts on that later. But it seems to me that the basic problem is that we all–all Too Often–don’t face up to the reality of death, including our own, those close to us or those around us–at least not in a way that would cause us to change anything substantially to be more vigilant, to look through the lens of alertness for danger.

Death, we whisper in our unconscious mind, won’t touch us and, on top of that, what we do won’t affect anyone else. At the same time–almost in the same breath–we do acknowledge the inevitability of death to the extent that we all Too Often develop a callous attitude. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be.

So then, talk of “safety” can easily become lip service and OTHER THINGS take precedence in our time, money, and focus. And if anything is done in the name of safety, it is Too Often Too Little to be much good–and the cost is certainly not justifiable when it  will only impact a small percentage of people anyway.

Does this have to be so? Is this the way we really want it to be: A world filled with grieving people, hearts broken more than they should be by the frustration of knowing that–just maybe–it could have been prevented?

(This is not about making people feel guilty or bitterness & unforgiveness but circumspectly planning ahead and taking responsible action.)

This, of course, is complicated by the many factors and people involved. As a result, it becomes all too easy to look the other way, to point the finger of blame at someone else, or to have on blinders which prevent each one from seeing their part in the process which needs to involve us all.

Consider this a Wake Up Call. I hope that this startles you into self-examination and leads to fruitful action. I hope so because I know the unending pain of loss and the nagging sense that my two daughters, AnnaLeah (forever 17) and Mary (forever 13), really had a whole lot of living left undone.

My faith in the God who loves me, and my knowledge that AnnaLeah and Mary had the gift of faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord, keeps me enfolded in the comfort of His peace and the anticipation of our one-day-joyful Reunion. But it does not convince me to embrace a laissez-faire attitude about safety.

The day before their funeral, I was reading Psalm 91 and questioning, with my newly-broken heart, how God could say His angels would guard them from evil. In my mind, this had not occurred. Well, did it? (Note: I know that He cares for them by bringing them into His eternal presence.)

I accept that He is a sovereign God. But I also know that He allows sin in this world and sin leads to death and destruction. I don’t think that He caused the crash, but I know that He did not stop it or any of its horrific details.

I also believe that He says that He will make it work together for good. So I watch as that enfolds now and in the life to come. Yet, I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like had “sin” and carelessness and thoughtless decisions and who-knows-what-else had not intervened–saving God the trouble of His redeeming handiwork after their untimely deaths.

Sometime after the crash, we began attending a new church–one which has a frequent practice of reciting Martin Luther’s Morning Prayer in Sunday morning services:

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen”

https://historictrinity.org/commonprayers.html Hear the prayer as a song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AZ6g94hmnc or  https://vimeo.com/9651771 or https://soundcloud.com/kevinbueltmann/morning-prayer-song

I have a hard time saying those words because they remind me that He did not keep AnnaLeah and Mary from all harm and danger and that it seems to me that the evil foe did have power over them. I usually say to myself, “What was Luther thinking when he wrote those words?!”

So, the other day when I ran across a book in our collection, Luther & His Katie–a biography of Martin Luther and his wife, Katie–I read with a great deal of interest the description of Luther’s reaction to the death of his loved ones.

http://www.amazon.com/Luther-His-Katie-Maccuish-Dolina/dp/0906731348

After losing his 8 month-old second child to illness,

“Luther wrote, ‘My little daughter Elizabeth has been taken away from me, leaving me strangely sick at heart, almost like a woman so deeply am I grieved. I would never have believed that a father’s heart could be so tender towards his children.’

“Katie [his wife] was inconsolable and it took her a long time to get over the loss.” (p. 52) Later the author records Luther’s reaction to the death from illness of his 13 year-old daughter, Magdalena: “‘Oh God,’ Luther prayed, ‘I love her dearly but Thy will be done.’ And turning to her, ‘Magdalena, my little girl, you would like to stay with your father here and you would as gladly go to your Father in heaven?’ “‘Yes, dearest father, as God wills.’

“And Luther grieved that though God had blessed him as no bishop had been blessed in a 1000 years, yet he could not find it in his heart to give God thanks. . . .

“As the end drew near Luther fell on his knees at her bedside praying with tears that God would receive his dear one while Katie stood at the far side of the room unable to watch her child as she died in her father’s arms. Then he turned to console the weeping mother.

“‘Dearest Katie, let us think of the home our daughter has gone to, there she is happy and at peace.’ “When she was laid in her coffin he said, ‘My darling Lenchen, you will rise and shine like the stars and the sun. How strange to know that she is at peace and all is well and yet to be sorrowful!’, and to his friends who came to weep with them,

“‘Let us not be sad. I have sent a saint to heaven. If mine could be like hers, I would gladly welcome death at this very hour.’ “She was buried beside her sister Elizabeth in the churchyard and Luther wrote an epitaph,

Here I, Magdalena, Doctor Luther’s little maid

Resting with the saints, Sleep in my narrow bed

I was a child of death, For I was born in sin

But now I live, redeemed Lord Christ, By the blood You shed for me.

“She died shortly after 9 o’clock on the 10th of September and three days later the heartbroken father wrote to Justus Jonas. . . “‘I expect you have heard that my beloved Magdalena has been born again into Christ’s everlasting kingdom. Although my wife and I ought to rejoice because of her happy end, yet such is the strength of natural affection that we cannot think of it without sobs and groans which tear the heart apart.

“‘The memory of her face, her words, her expression, in life and in death–everything about our most obedient and loving daughter lingers in our hearts so that even the death of Christ (and what are all deaths compared to His?) is almost powerless to lift our minds above our loss. “‘So would you give thanks to God in our stead? For hasn’t He honored us greatly in glorifying our child? You know how gentle and sweet she was, how altogether lovely.

“‘Christ be praised who chose her and called her and has now glorified her. I pray God that I and all of us may have such a death, yes and such a life.’

“Luther himself never got over Magdalena’s death. His health deteriorated and he began to regard himself, prematurely perhaps, as an ‘old exhausted man.'” (pp. 66-69)

Somehow, reading about Luther’s reaction to the loss of two daughters made me feel better about my own.

How interesting that, as I contemplated the prevailing attitude of avoidance of death and dying–especially as it relates to safety initiatives, I received the latest issue of a quarterly newsletter which we have been getting for years. The topic: “Biblical Truths About Death and Dying (Part I, Prepare to Meet Your God. Are You Ready?)” by Rodney Lensch.

There is much which I could quote from his essay on the topic, but let me narrow it down to a few thoughts. We are all going to die–one way or another. There is a time to be born and a time to die. Ecclesiastes 2:7

Rod describes the deaths of some of the people he has known and refers to them as,

“. . . a reminder that death comes to believers in [varied and sometimes] surprising ways. Therefore we must be ready at all times, day or night. At the same time we need to claim the promises of long life and responsibly serve God and our neighbor with an eye on heaven as Paul instructs us. We are of good courage, and would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. (2 Corinthians 8:9)”

He also cites sin as the root cause of death as, “Jesus is the only antidote for the problem of sin and death. That being true, let us repent and accept Jesus today and be ready whenever death may knock at our door.”

I will be eternally grateful that Mary and AnnaLeah were ready when death knocked at their door on a day when they did not suspect it. I am comforted by a letter we found after their funeral which Mary had written to herself (meant to be read ten years later) a few weeks before our crash. One of the things she said–and which I will never forget–was that she hoped that she was living every day as if it were her last.

The Bible says that, Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.(Ecclesiastes 7:2) Why is it that Too Often we do not do so? Why do we live and think and act as if we were invincible and invulnerable?

According to Rod Lensch, “One good explanation is that death is like the law of gravity. We recognize its reality but rarely think about it. People generally tend to walk into life with hope and confidence but back into death with uncertainty and fear. So the conspiracy of silence surrounding death continues unabated.”

And, it is this “conspiracy of silence” surrounding death as it relates to crash fatalities that I would like to shatter. I would like to shine a spotlight on these countless unnecessary and preventable deaths and call for change–for safety to become much more than a word that is flippantly tossed around without any real and lasting impact.

Let’s be bold and decisive and circumspectly do the sensible and compassionate thing. Let’s do our part–each one of us–to protect those around us from all harm and danger that they might love and laugh and live their life fully.

This morning, as I was taking a shower, I began singing Amy Grant’s song, “Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs-aiQ9NZ1g

Normally, that song is an encouragement to me. But as I got to the phrase, “Please be near me to the end,” I “lost it” as the memory returned of my girls’ abrupt and premature end to their lives. At one and the same time, it was a comfort that He was indeed near them “to the end” and a great sorrow that their ending had to come in such a way and at such a time–so unnecessarily for me to see and bear in my own lifetime, and for them to miss out on so much more of life, not to mention all the lives now bereft of the love and gifts they so freely shared.

It is at such moments that I cry out, “May there be an end to Too Often, Too Little, Too Late. And may it come quickly.”

25 AnnaLeah Jesus Loves Me 052IMG_4465AnnaLeah’s craft: In my life, Lord, Thy will be done.  AnnaLeah’s last road trip–abruptly ended.

Who are no more with photo

Safety is not a priority

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Re-examine the Definition of Reckless Driving

Questions About Justice in the State of Georgia

A Mother’s Memories

AnnaLeah’s Statement of Faith 3

Mary’s Baptism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UvtWMh3J8

AnnaLeah’s Confirmation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY393AmtB8E

Mary’s Confirmation Questioning (She was to be confirmed in June 2013.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4KZR1pFa0

AnnaLeah & Mary Are Where They Belong:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8emDfPJyqM

 Farewell to Mary and AnnaLeah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKdHfc_xFY

Rod & Staff on death and dying 1Rod & Staff on death and dying 2

Rod & Staff on death and dying 3Rod & Staff on death and dying 4

Rod & Staff on death and dying 5

 We Rescue, Jesus Saves: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/08/we-rescue-jesus-saves/

 

 

 

What Came After The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

Last year at this time, our family was intensely involved in preparing to launch The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition.  After our truck crash and tragic loss of the Mary and AnnaLeah, we learned about many things that needed changing to prevent other families from facing similar grief.

When Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx promised that we would see tangible progress in a short time on truck safety issues, and 6 months later we had not, we decided to take our request to DOT on the first anniversary of our crash and invited other people to join us by signing our petition.

Last March, after brainstorming with our family, two of our sons were designing a website for the petition, but as time was getting short to launch the petition and we wanted to make sure that everything would go without a hitch, we changed course and applied all that hard work to an existing site, Care2 The Petition Site. And on March 19, we launched the petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/501/869/stand-up-for-truck-safety/

And we shared our story: https://youtu.be/I-WQBEDpTVw

We were amazed as the numbers started rising and quickly surpassed our hopes. By the time May rolled around, we had over 11,000 signatures on our petition. We printed each signature as an individual petition and stuffed it in an envelope and delivered these envelopes in person on May 5, 2014, in Washington, DC.

Here is a graph showing the number of signatures by state:

petition signatures by state

Eight members of our family, including our grandson and granddaughter traveled to Washington, DC and sat down with administrative officials from NHTSA and FMCSA. We were well received, presented our concerns, heard from them on their efforts, and had a productive discussion. And here are the “notes” which our 4 year-old granddaughter, Vanessa, took at that meeting:

Vanessa DOT notes

We are proud of our family and thankful for the many people who stood with us to voice these vital concerns.

What came out of our petition and the meeting we had with DOT that day? Did it make a difference? Here are the three requests which we made in the petition and what has come about:

  1. First Request: Raise minimum levels of insurance required for truck drivers–which has not been done for over 30 years.
  2. Result: In November 2014, the FMCSA  issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) announcing that they are considering a proposed rule to increase the minimum liability insurance coverage for motor carriers.   https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/11/28/2014-28076/financial-responsibility-for-motor-carriers-freight-forwarders-and-brokers   https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/good-news-fmcsa-announces-first-step-toward-increasing-minimum-liability-for-trucker-insurance/  https://www.facebook.com/464993830249803/photos/a.465869083495611.1073741828.464993830249803/741290079286842/
  3. The period for Public Comments ended on February 26. The 11,391 signatures from our petition were added to these Public Comments. This will be followed by a review of these comments and a decision about whether to actually proceed with a rulemaking process.  Public Comments 002Public Comments 003
  4. Second Request: Decrease driver fatigue and monitor their hours on the road with Electronic Logging Devices.
  5. Result: The Petition’s 11,000+ signatures were also added to the Public Comments for the Electronic Logging Device Rule.  The comment period ended May 27, 2014. “In a departure from a report issued in mid-February, the Department of Transportation has changed its expected publication date for a Final Rule mandating the use of electronic logging devices, according to a supplemental report issued by the DOT last week.   It now expects the rule to be published Sept. 30.”  http://www.overdriveonline.com/fmcsa-alters-course-on-e-log-mandate-shoots-for-sept-30-rule-publication/#
  6.   Public Comments on ELDs and Levi leaving for Camp 032Public Comments on ELDs and Levi leaving for Camp 026
  7. Third Request: Take needed steps to improve underride guards, which prevent vehicles from sliding under trucks–causing horrific injuries and tragic deaths.
  8. Result: On July 9, I posted the good news that NHTSA had initiated a rulemaking process on underride guards:   https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/nhtsa-has-initiated-a-rulemaking-process-to-evaluate-options-for-improving-underride-guards/
  9. The Rulemaking Process is lengthy and often fraught with delays. It is a miracle that anything gets done. This is what the Federal Register posting says at the end:  “The agency notes that its granting of the petition submitted by Ms. Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition does not prejudge the outcome of the rulemaking or necessarily mean that a final rule will be issued. The determination of whether to issue a rule will be made after study of the requested action and the various alternatives in the course of the rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria.” https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-guards-rear-impact-protection  Here is an outline of that process:  https://www.federalregister.gov/uploads/2011/01/the_rulemaking_process.pdf
  10. Underride guards and our story were featured in the Fall 2014 IIHS Status Report:  https://annaleahmary.com/2014/10/iihs-reports-on-new-crash-testing-for-improved-underride-guards/

The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition is still open. People are still finding it and signing it (without our doing a thing to promote it). People care about this issue and we want you to know that we are being heard and that we are continuing to advocate for safer roads.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/501/869/stand-up-for-truck-safety/

Petition 002

At some point, we hope to send out a final update to all of the petition signers (now at 11,530 plus the 150 people who sent a paper petition to us)–letting them know about the progress made and encouraging them to stay in contact.

When we were getting ready to go to DC last year, one of our sons asked what we would do after the petition was over–would we still do truck safety advocacy? I said I didn’t know. . . but here I still am–continuing to keep track of what is going on, writing, writing, writing, and speaking up for all of us who are vulnerable on the roads, calling for action in matters of life & death.

We Rescue Jesus Saves 018

 

The Senate is Holding a Hearing: “Surface Transportation Re-authorization – Oversight & Reform of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration”

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety,

As preparation is underway for the next surface transportation bill, it is vitally important that truck safety concerns are addressed as priorities and not compromised–in any extension of the current bill and in a future re-authorization. It is a matter of life and death.  I should know, my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13) lost their lives due to a truck crash on May 4, 2013:

Before & After PhotosAnnaLeah and Mary

Here are some of the reasons why:

  1. Every year on average 4,000 people die in truck crashes and about 100,000 more are injured at a cost of at least $87 billion, a large number of them due to driver fatigue.  https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/trucking-fatalities-increase-for-fourth-year-in-a-row-hours-of-service-rules-rolled-back/
  2. The Secretary of Transportation should exercise his authority, and act on the recommendations of its own agency, to set the minimum insurance for motor carriers at responsible levels that will encourage safe underwriting and safe operations as was intended by Congress and to reflect the potential crash damage and medical care cost inflation. For more information:  https://annaleahmary.com/2015/02/time-is-short-comment-now-on-proposed-rule-to-raise-minimum-liability-insurance-for-trucking/ and  https://annaleahmary.com/2015/02/speak-up-for-increased-trucker-minimum-insurance-rally-with-us-to-be-heard-above-the-vocal-opposition/
  3. The Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program is working as intended and any changes to it or how crashes are weighted would have a serious and detrimental impact on safety.   http://trucksafety.org/read-letter-secretary-foxx-response-motor-carrier-industrys-letter-regarding-fmcsas-csa-program/
  4. Truck driver fatigue is a serious and deadly problem affecting the health and safety of all truck drivers and motorists. Hours of Service should not have been increased from 70 to 82 hours. Instead, the limits on the restart provision (once per week, two night requirement) should be restored. Studies sponsored by the FMCSA reveal that 65% of truck drivers report they have often or sometimes felt drowsy while driving and nearly half of truck drivers admit they have fallen asleep while driving in the previous year. IMG_4462   https://annaleahmary.com/driver-fatigue/;  https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/battle-over-trucker-34-hour-restart-rule-is-over-for-now/ ;    https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/truck-crash-moment-a-truck-drivers-actions-forever-divided-time-into-before-after/   ;https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/a-mothers-letter-in-response-to-senator-collins-deadly-and-dangerous-provision-to-increase-working-hours-for-truck-drivers/ ;  https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/urgent-express-your-opposition-to-longer-hours-for-truck-drivers/ ;   https://annaleahmary.com/2014/09/pay-attention-america-help-bring-totally-avoidable-crashes-to-a-stop/ ;  https://annaleahmary.com/2014/09/update-on-electronic-logging-devices/
  5. Underride guards need to be improved. I should know: I survived the crash while my two daughters in the backseat when we were pushed backward under a truck did not survive when the guard did not prevent underride.  https://annaleahmary.com/underride-guards/
  6. No increases should be allowed in truck size (doubles or triples) or weight. The adverse impact on safety and infrastructure will just make a bad situation worse.  http://trucksafety.org/watch-a-broad-coalition-speak-out-against-increasing-truck-size-and-weight-limits/ ;    http://trucksafety.org/read-the-statement-of-administration-policy-regarding-highway-and-motor-carrier-safety/

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Truck safety needs to be a priority; it’s a matter of life & death.

https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/our-crash-was-not-an-accident/

Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary in A Treasury of Karth Family Recipes

AnnaLeah and Mary

A Treasury of Family Recipes 1 pdfA Treasury of Family Recipes pdf

Last night, I finally got around to making some corrections on my cookbook of family favorites. When I went to save it, I was amazed to discover that the last time I had revised it was exactly two years ago (February 27, 2013). Mary and AnnaLeah (and Caleb) were around then to make suggestions about what to add to my previous edition, and there are multiple references to them in the recipes, as well as photos.

I am printing it off today for a wedding shower gift and had to take care of errors, including auto-corrections by my computer such as buttermilk when I was writing butter and the “wrong” recipes for cranberry and pumpkin bread.

Of course, I had to find some more food photos to post which remind me of them.  https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=791399357609247&id=464993830249803

Sweet memories. Sigh.

Here is the full revised cookbook (first revision on February 27, 2013 and second revision on February 27, 2015):

A Treasury of Karth Family Recipes Third Edition

Safety Advocates Call for Reform in Auto Safety Recalls

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

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Thirty-eight years ago, my first job out of college was a position as a local chapter director of a statewide patient advocacy organization for nursing home patients–Citizens for Better Care–in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Little did I know that someday I would be advocating for improved safety for travelers on the roads of our country–at a high price, of course, because I had become enlightened, enraged, and empowered due to the loss of my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), as a result of a potentially-preventable truck crash.

I have primarily been learning about and advocating for change in truck safety issues. But through my research, I have become aware of many other safety issues and numerous other safety advocates who are working hard to bring about change for us all. Just recently, I found the website called Care for Crash Victims–focused for the most part on victims of car crashes .

http://www.careforcrashvictims.com/

“This web site named ‘Care for Crash Victims’ is a project of a small business public benefit enterprise, Louis V. Lombardo, LLC.  The mission is to improve care for crash victims before, during, and after a crash.  We are all crash victims — past, present, and future — as individuals, families, friends and society.  All of us are impacted by crashes as consumers, insurance premium payers, and tax payers.”

I think that I might have contacted them through their site; in any case, I am now on their email list for receiving updates. This morning, I received an email with a link to an article about a push by consumer advocates who are calling for reform in auto safety recalls. I found out that,

“Auto safety advocates will begin testifying in Annapolis Tuesday for a package of innovative reforms that promise to speed up the recall of unsafe cars, help get better safety information to MD carbuyers, and make sure every car purchaser has a fair chance at a good deal on a new car. 

Key supporters of the legislation include Jack Fitzgerald, Laura Christian, and ConsumerAuto.org. Jack Fitzgerald is the chairman of Fitzgerald Auto Malls and one of MD’s leading car dealers for almost 50 years. Laura Christian is the mother of Amber Marie Rose, a 16-year MD girl who in 2005 became one of the first people to lose her life as a result of the deadly ignition switch flaw that has now caused the recall of more than 16 million GM cars.”

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/victims-mother-and-consumer-advocates-call-for-reforms-in-auto-safety-recalls-300039501.html

Consumer Auto.org recently released this video in which Laura Christian tells her story and calls for change:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNgimJ4DSQk

http://www.consumerauto.org/

I hope that you will join with many others to stand up for needed changes in such a way that safety problems can no longer be swept under a rug. Otherwise, we will all continue to be at the mercy of poor decisions which cause unnecessary tragedy on the roads of our country.

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Speak Up For Increased Trucker Minimum Insurance; Rally With Us To Be Heard Above the Vocal Opposition

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety,

Petition Photo Bags at DOT, bestPhoto Button

With the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in the process of considering a rulemaking to increase the minimum liability, NOW is the time to speak up in support of increasing minimum liability insurance for trucking companies.

Please take 5 minutes to submit a comment to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration supporting an inflation adjustment of liability insurance requirements that have been unchanged since the Reagan Administration. It is critically important for truck accident victims (often truck drivers), who almost never get a full recovery even when receiving policy limits.

To submit a comment to the FMCSA, go here and click on Submit a Formal Comment: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/11/28/2014-28076/financial-responsibility-for-motor-carriers-freight-forwarders-and-brokers

Note: If you have already signed the AnnaLeah & Mary Petition, you can also individually sign the Federal Register. I have verified this with the administrative official at FMCSA who posted our petition to the Public Comments.

In your own words, tell FMCSA that you think it is important for them to proceed with the rulemaking to raise the minimum liability insurance for truck drivers.

The deadline for submitting Public Comments is FEBRUARY 26.

What follows is our Public Comment on this issue. . .

A fair-minded, thoughtful citizen would evaluate this issue from every angle and make comments accordingly. As parents of two daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), who are no longer with us due to a truck crash on May 4, 2013, that is what we tried to do–and have continued to do–in the aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy.

Our story and the changes we are trying to make–including increased minimum liability insurance for trucking–can be found in great detail at https://annaleahmary.com/ .

We have not merely reacted emotionally but have gathered facts and even played the devil’s advocate in questioning our own thoughts and actions. As we read the comments from others, we too often find that others are less circumspect. Let me try to address some of the factors involved in this complex issue.

Perhaps the simplest thing to say is that our first acquaintance with this issue was when we were told by our U.S. Senator, Richard Burr (R-NC), that the Secretary of Transportation actually has the authority to raise the level of the minimum liability insurance for truckers. This was intended when Congress gave DOT the mandate for this regulation; nonetheless–despite inflation–DOT has not taken action to bring about an increase since it was set at $750,000 in 1980–over 35 years. Adjusted for the rate of medical inflation, the $750,000 minimum would be over $4.4 million today.

Is this logical? Is it common sense? Would it be acceptable for say your salary/wages? Many others have written on the mathematics of this, e.g., you can find a detailed analysis at this website, http://saferhighways-oneclickpolitics.nationbuilder.com/ , with some of the key points listed below:

  • The purpose of insurance is to spread risk for catastrophic loss.
  • One of the original purposes of federally-mandated insurance minimums was increased safety entry standards for commercial truck drivers who wish to transport people and goods. This continues to be a goal of insurance—the driver who can’t afford insurance also can’t afford routine maintenance of brakes, tires and other equipment.
  • The safer a company is, the lower its insurance rates.
  • The FMCSA’s report to Congress gave the legislative history of the 1980 minimum insurance levels. Part of that history is that minimum levels were set to ”assure the public safety is not jeopardized”. Another part of that history was setting insurance minimums to achieve a level ”sufficient to require on site inspection by the insurance company with minimums to be updated regularly.”
  • It is basic economics that all prices must eventually be adjusted for inflation. The time has passed to adjust the minimum insurance limits for inflation.

Secondly, I would like to address the concern that many trucking companies–particularly the smaller ones–keep bringing up. They are convinced that if the minimum level is raised, their premiums will skyrocket and consequently put them out of business.

On April 17, 2014, OOIDA, which is the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association http://www.ooida.com/,  wrote about this in a press release (http://www.ooida.com/MediaCenter/PressReleases/pressrelease.asp?prid=344 ):

FMCSA acknowledges that more than 99 percent of commercial vehicle accidents are readily covered under current requirements and that they have not done an assessment of the financial impact that increased requirements would have on small businesses. 

“Even though the agency’s report confirms that fewer than one percent of all truck-involved accidents result in injuries or property damage that exceed current insurance requirements, it seems pretty clear they plan to raise those requirements anyway,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice president. 

OOIDA contends that an increase in insurance would be a death nail for the small businesses that comprise over 90 percent of the trucking industry.

In response to OOIDA’s comment about “fewer than one percent,” our son Peter made this observation prior to our meeting with FMCSA on May 5, 2014,

The 1% issue is at best a red herring. Refusing to raise a limit because such a small percentage reach the limit only indicates that the increase in cost should be minimal. It can’t be both ways, either this increase should raise the cost of doing business or the effect should be minimal.

This isn’t life insurance where all the money is always paid out. Nor is this homeowner’s insurance in which you have a set amount of house that can be destroyed. This is liability insurance in which the amount paid out is based on the amount of damage being done. If such a small percentage of claims reaches the limit, then greedy lawyers, increased costs, and mythical “windfall” payments are all proven absurd or irrelevant. 

What we actually have here is discrimination against the minority. “You are so small a portion of the people we harm we are not obliged to deal with you fairly.” Under such logic, they might as well suggest that they shouldn’t be compelled to have insurance at all.

Furthermore, not everyone in the trucking industry would agree with OOIDA. We noted a Public Comment on December 3, 2014, by Brian Taylor as a spokesperson for a trucking company ( http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-0057 ):

We are a 23 truck fleet and carry 25 million in liability insurance. We carry that much to protect not only us but our customers. The argument that only 1 % of the claims exceed the current threshold for insurance makes no sense. You carry insurance to cover you no matter what happens. 1 % exposure is too much. The fact that it seldom happens makes the coverage cheap. The actuaries price according to probability. I don’t believe that this coverage will be cost prohibitive unless the carrier has a dismal safety rating in which case they shouldn’t be in business. When carriers don’t carry enough coverage the expose responsible carriers, shippers and the general public. We need responsible carriers, pricing their services correctly to cover all costs and excepting responsibility for the liability created by their business. Skirting this liability and charging for services is deceptive to shippers and puts the public or state at financial risk in the form of a claim that is part of a service they get no remuneration for. When you provide a service, charge fees and profit you must also be responsible financially which means carrying adequate insurance.

I want to say a few additional things, in response to trucking industry concerns about a raise in premiums.

In preparing to travel to Washington,  DC, on May 5, 2014, to present over 11,000 AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petitions to DOT, I wanted to have accurate information to be able to intelligently discuss this issue and our concerns with DOT administrative officials. As a result, I found out some interesting information by making phone calls to insurance companies.

It is very difficult to get information on trucking insurance rates unless you are actually applying. And the information which I got included this (from my email correspondence to family members where I recorded my phone calls in April & May 2014):

  • I could not get anything from Travelers about internal company information. She told me that I could submit a request for information in writing to “Procurement” with my company name, research I am doing, reasons for wanting the information and general questions. They will respond–even if (probably) only to say  that they cannot give me any information.
  • Also, one of the first things which I found out was that Geico transfers calls requesting information about trucking insurance to OOIDA agents! I did not finish that  call.

I was suddenly enlightened to find out that OOIDA is actually–among other things– a large, for-profit insurer of owner-operator truck drivers. That set off a lot of red flags in my mind. How much control do they actually have over the premiums which most independent truck drivers end up paying? http://www.ooidatruckinsurance.com/

Aside from that, many of the truck drivers/companies which I see making comments complain about how the premiums will skyrocket. But on what are they basing that opinion?

John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition, has shared background information with us which he has gathered from numerous sources, presentations, and conversations regarding the economics of additional insurance coverage for motor carriers.  It turns out that the first million dollars’ worth of  trucking insurance is the most expensive and each incremental amount is cheaper.  Additional points include:

–$1,000,000 in carrier liability coverage per unit can range from $4,500  – $8,000.  The FMCSA used an estimate of $5,000 per unit for the first $1M in their study.

– In today’s marketplace, the second million is quite a bit more affordable, even for small fleets.  A cost estimate for an additional $1M coverage (to raise the limit to $2M total) is $1,000 to $1,500 for the second million per unit annually.

– For the first $1M, some small motor carriers can gain access to a group purchasing model if they are closely aligned to a large motor carrier. 

– There are both national insurance companies and regional insurance companies focused on this market.  The national carriers are developing more sophisticated underwriting models that consider tens of underwriting characteristics as well as regional pricing competition.

– Estimates for the cost for the third additional million (3 million total)  are much cheaper than the second million, which was considerably cheaper than the first. As the risk of a payout goes down, so does the cost of additional coverage.  

If it is so hard to get information on the question of how much the premiums would actually increase if the minimum liability is raised, then on what are these statements based which are made by the people who claim it will put them out of business?

It is my understanding from FMCSA, in our meeting with them on May 5, 2014, that even they have a hard time getting that information from insurance companies and that the rule-making process would give them authority to get that kind of information from insurance companies in order to be able to make a fully-informed policy decision. I look forward to seeing what they find out.

In regard to the issue of “will it put them out of business?”. . . I hope that responsible, accountable, safety-minded companies with the best interests at heart–of both their truck drivers and the other travelers on the road–would have good records and have decisions and actions at all levels which would withstand the impact of a change which has been needed for some time. If not, then perhaps it is better for them to not be in business any longer.

Besides which, if small trucking companies are under-insured, then they might be taking the chance of losing everything if involved in a catastrophic accident.

There is another thing which I wanted to mention and that is the concern about frivolous lawsuits. Exactly upon what are people basing their claim that there are too many frivolous lawsuits related to truck crashes? If there is only a totaled car, do they really think that there will be an attempt to get the full available amount? And when there are fatalities involved, then there is a reason why laws were changed to allow wrongful death suits.

Fatality is a word that can too easily cover up the unimaginable, tragic grief which family members are left with after the death of a loved one in a truck crash. It is true that no settlement amount will ever assuage (appease, mollify, soothe) the terrible pain and gaping hole left by an unexpected loss. But I encourage you to put yourself in the shoes of a bereaved family and imagine that this is what wrongful death laws are about–above and beyond covering the immediate expenses incurred from the crash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrongful_death_claim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solatium Solatium (plural solatia) is a form of compensation for emotional rather than physical or financial harm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Accidents_Act_1846

  • The Fatal Accidents Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c.93), commonly known as Lord Campbell’s Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that, for the first time in England and Wales, allowed relatives of people killed by the wrongdoing of others to recover damages.
  • Under the common law of England and Wales, the death of a person causes solely emotional and pure economic loss to their relatives. In general, damages cannot be recovered for either type of damage, only for physical damage to the claimant or their property. This was the rule declared by the court in Baker v. Bolton (1808).[1][2][3] Scottishlaw was different in that the court could grant a solatium in acknowledgment of the family’s grief.[4][5]
  • Thus, if a person was injured through a tort, the wrongdoer would be liable for causing injury. If the person were killed, there would be no liability. Perversely, the wrongdoer had a financial interest in killing, rather than injuring, a victim.

In fact, many times I have thought of the fact that there were more actual expenses for our daughter who required hospitalization before her death than for our daughter who died at the scene of the crash–her life abruptly ended. Without the ability to claim a wrongful death, what would we be left with besides compensation for her burial expenses? (And even saying that is likely to be misunderstood.) Surely her life was of more value than that.

11,000+ signatures from the AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition have been added to the Public Comments on this rulemaking: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-0111

Note: If you have already signed the AnnaLeah & Mary Petition, you can also individually sign the Federal Register. I have verified this with the administrative official at FMCSA who posted our petition to the Public Comments. Please lend your support by clicking on this link and then clicking on Submit a Formal Comment in order to post your comment:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/11/28/2014-28076/financial-responsibility-for-motor-carriers-freight-forwarders-and-brokers

 The deadline for submitting Public Comments is FEBRUARY 26.

Some are opposing the proposed rule-making, claiming it is all about lawyers who want more money for themselves and disregarding the impact on lives and families devastated in truck crashes.

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Truck Safety Advocacy: Make Safe Happen

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

Like most anyone else, I wasn’t prepared for how the Nationwide Make Safe Happen Superbowl commercial turned out.  And, as a mom of two teenage daughters who died as a result of a potentially-preventable truck crash (through no fault of their own), it triggered memories of many grieving moments when I realize all of the things that AnnaLeah and Mary will never do again–or never do at all.

But I appreciate the effort that Nationwide made to draw attention to preventable deaths and catalyze a nation-wide conversation about safety.  We will never completely stop all “accidental” deaths. But we can do a whole lot to save one life at a time. 

Here’s our story and my thoughts on MakeSafeHappen:  http://youtu.be/mwdfYzNowtQ

Thank you, Nationwide, for this conversation-starter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY. I would have produced & aired a commercial like that about truck safety if I had had the resources. It was a brilliant move!

Could Electronic Traffic Message Signs Have Saved My Daughters From Tragic Death?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,
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We think that our crash might have been prevented if there had been road signs indicating traffic delay due to the previous accident two miles ahead.

https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/our-crash-was-not-an-accident/

In our travels to and from our meetings in Georgia to meet with the District Attorney, Georgia State Patrol, and for the plea bargain hearing of the truck driver, we noticed electronic road signs above or on the side of the highway in other areas of Georgia–although none anywhere near our crash site.

Recently, I noticed portable signs by the roadside on I-64 in North Carolina which were marked with the website http://www.arrowboards.com/. So I went to that website today and was referred to this website for traffic safety and law enforcement Variable Message Signs: http://www.wanco.com/products/categories.php?type_id=1.

Could one of these signs have been utilized on I-20 to alert drivers to the accident which had happened two hours earlier two miles ahead of our crash site? Might the truck driver have been better prepared for the traffic slowdown and not crashed into our car sending AnnaLeah and Mary to their tragic deaths?

What will it take for states to make it a priority to protect travelers on the road in this way?

Before & After PhotosIMG_20140508_114515_341