Category Archives: AnnaLeah and Mary

NHTSA Has Initiated a Rulemaking Process to Evaluate Options for Improving Underride Guards

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety,

AnnaLeah, Mary at Muskegon

At 1:01 p.m. today, Jerry and I received an email from David Friedman, Acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as a follow up to our petition for improved underride guards.

David Friedman underride email

Here is ” the “unpublished” version that has been provided for public inspection at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2014-16018.pdf.”

Mary would have said, “Awesome!” And AnnaLeah would have found a suitable YouTube video to show her approval.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c&feature=kp

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

Picture 275

We are forever grateful to everyone who had any part in this victory.  May there be many more in the days ahead.

Jerry & Marianne

Petition Update

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

Petition Photo Bags at DOT, best

The AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up for Truck Safety Petition is recorded in the Public Comments for the Electronic Logging Devices Rule in the Federal Register: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2010-0167-1177 (You can easily view the names & comments by opening the Multiple Commenters XLS Spreadsheet–Sheet 1–at the bottom of that page.)

We are thankful for Care2 for providing a means for us to publicize our petition for truck safety to a large audience. We are thankful for the many people who responded to our request.

A Note From the Truck Safety Coalition: “To continue to receive updates on the Karth family’s advocacy, including opportunities to advance underride guard protection, minimum insurance requirements and ELDs, as the Karth family did in their petition, please go to http://trucksafety.org/karth-family-washington-dc/ and fill out the contact information at the bottom of the page. The Truck Safety Coalition appreciates your interest and hopes that you will continue to support actions to improve truck safety issues and help protect our families.”

Thank you for signing our petition for truck safety in memory of AnnaLeah and Mary Karth. Eight members of our family traveled to Washington, DC, to deliver over 11,000 petitions one year after the crash that killed AnnaLeah and Mary Karth.

We were able to deliver all of the petitions to the top two administrative officials, Anne Ferro (FMCSA) and David Friedman (NHTSA), in the Department of Transportation in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2014—one year after our crash. We then had an hour-long meeting with DOT.

Basically, we were really well received. The 11,000 petitions will be put on the Public Comment record for each of the 3 issues. And it appears that the DOT is making positive movements toward truck safety, but many of these changes will still take years to accomplish.

From the DOT meeting notes:  “After speaking with reporters, we proceeded with the bags of petitions into DOT for our meeting. Ferro had the Karths officially present the petition, she accepted it on behalf of DOT, and then the meeting began. The meeting addressed the three petition issues:  minimum insurance, underride guards and Electronic Logging Devices.

Attending from DOT:   Anne Ferro, Administrator, FMCSA; David Friedman, Acting Administrator, NHTSA; Bill Bronrott, Deputy Administrator, FMCSA; Jack Van Steenburg, Chief Safety Officer & Assistant Administrator, FMCSA; Kevin Vincent, Chief Counsel, NHTSA; Lori Summers, Director, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, NHTSA”

Here are links to media and photos:

Here is a link to make public comment on Electronic Logging Devices:

 https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/03/28/2014-05827/electronic-logging-devices-and-hours-of-service-supporting-documents

Please be sure to periodically check our website, https://annaleahmary.com/, for future updates and ways that you can help us keep pushing for safer roads for us all.

Washington DC 129

Dear Truck Driver,

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

You may feel like our petition is targeting you because we are asking for the minimum levels of insurance required by truck drivers be increased, we are asking for Electronic Logging Devices to become the standard as soon as possible, and we are asking for improved underride guards to be put on trailers.

These things do make your life more difficult. We know that. However, they also help provide safety for everyone on the road including you and your family.

Increasing the insurance does cost you money. But when an accident happens, it costs a lot of money to cover all of the damages a large, heavy truck can inflict. Often times, the minimum insurance doesn’t begin to cover those damages and the burden of paying them can be left on other agencies (including taxpayers) or even on injured people and their families.

Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) make it impossible to work too many hours, and that decreases driver fatigue. We understand that making a living as a truck driver is difficult and this causes some to make changes to their logs in order to make a living for their families. But this is dangerous for all on the roads including the truckers, who decide that it is their best option for making money. While the ELD do cost money, they also make it a lot safer for everyone.

Underride guards don’t directly make a difference for your lives. But, by preventing cars from going under your trailer, it will save lives and prevent injuries.

We understand how it can feel like our petition is going after your livelihood. But, the truth of the matter is that the system needs to change so that you can make a living while still keeping the roads safe. It is important that the roads be safe for you, your loved ones, and ours.

We are asking people to support safety by signing our petition. We respect truck drivers, and we are grateful for the work that you do for us. But the roads need to be as safe as possible. And that will take us all working together to reach that very important goal.

The Karth Family

In memory of AnnaLeah (forever 17) & Mary (forever 13)

Why Are We Writing About Truck Safety Advocacy?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

Why are we writing about truck safety advocacy? Because we miss AnnaLeah and Mary so much and would like to help make sure that other families are not devastated the way we were.

According to the traffic crash report, on May 4, 2013, our Crown Victoria car was hit by one truck, spun around, hit again by that same truck, and then pushed backwards into the back of another truck. So the rear of our car went under the truck resulting in the deaths of AnnaLeah and Mary, who were in the back seat.

If the standards for underride guards for truck trailers had been strengthened and enforced, then AnnaLeah and Mary might have come home from the hospital with Caleb and me. Maybe not. And nothing will change our circumstances; we will never see them again in this life (so we wait eagerly for the life to come). But certainly, someone else could be spared this grief and untimely death–because we know there is a better design out there.

To get a better understanding of the inadequacy of the current federal regulations for underride guards, please watch these short videos:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-941654

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358087n&tag=related%3Bphotovideo

Encouraging Words

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

It is so good to see how people are responding and signing our petition for truck safety. And it is encouraging to read all of the Comments on ThePetitionSite. People care. People are supporting our efforts to improve the safety of travelers on the roads. And, unfortunately, many people have seen the problems firsthand.

I hope to look back at this time in years to come and think: together we made a difference.

AnnaLeah, Mary at Muskegon

(Photo courtesy http://www.thekarths.com/)

Sign Our Petition

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety

Meet AnnaLeah & Mary

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

       

Mary and AnnaLeah at Battle Park, Rocky Mount, NC
Mary and AnnaLeah at Battle Park, Rocky Mount, NC

On May 4, 2013, AnnaLeah and Mary Karth were in a truck-related car accident. AnnaLeah died at the scene of the accident. Mary died a few days later due to her injuries.

This website is dedicated to preventing more deaths in truck-related accidents from happening. Specifically, the Karth family is working to raise awareness about three issues related to truck safety: minimum liability insurance levels, driver fatigue, and underride guards. More information can be found on the pages specific to those issues.

The family has also created a Facebook memorial page where they share memories, photos, and videos of the girls.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Memory-of-AnnaLeah-1995-to-2013-and-Mary-Lydia-Karth-1999-to-2013/464993830249803

And the Facebook posts from the first few years after the crash can be accessed in chronological order through our Journey Through Grief Page on this website: Journey Through Grief.

AnnaLeah, full of peace, forever 17, and Mary, full of joy, forever 13.  We are thankful for  the years that we had them in our lives. We know that, by faith, they believed in Jesus as their Savior & Lord. And because of that, we have the sure hope that we will see them again—and be with them forever.