I just noticed that the Department of Energy employees have an Office of Ombudsman. It reminded me that Vulnerable Victims of Vehicle Violence do not have a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to advocate on their behalf.
Category Archives: Safety Advocacy
Good Week for Working on Traffic Safety Solutions: ATA/TMC in Nashville & Road to Zero Coalition in DC
I will be on the road this week pushing for safer roads — first at the American Trucking Associations annual Technology & Maintenance Council Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, starting tomorrow. Then on Wednesday I will be in DC for a Road to Zero Coalition meeting, as well as other opportunities to discuss traffic safety issues.
Still working on trying to get an additional meeting set up. . .
I’m armed with photos of my girls and plenty of information on how we can make the roads safer — not sure that they are ready for me!
Side Guard Petition Comment Uncovers Yet One More Family Devastated by Preventable Side Underride
I just noticed a comment on the Side Guard Petition from signer #1537:
My dad, Richard Yancoskie, died January 28th 2015, in an underride accident, although the driver was ultimately at fault side guards would have saved my dad’s life. . .34 mph at the point of impact and also no airbags ever deployed because we have been told the sensors were above the point of impact, I have contacted several government agencies about the importance of implementing side guard rails but have yet to be successful. . . please feel free to contact me. I want to help any way I can.
I am sorry to hear of her family’s loss and yet one more life cut too short. I hope to get in touch with her and am quite sure that she will be able to lend a hand in the effort to end preventable side underride deaths.
Join over 9,000 signers of the Side Guard Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/251/762/472/end-deadly-side-underride-crashes-mandate-side-guards-on-large-trucks/
DOE pours millions into SuperTruck fuel savings research projects; $0 devoted to side underride protection?
How is it that the DOE and Volvo poured resources into research and development of SuperTrucks but did not bother to (as far as I can tell, though I am not done looking into this yet) include improved underride protection as a goal of this project?!
- http://www.truckinginfo.com/ channel/fuel-smarts/news/ story/2016/09/volvo-s- supertruck-exceeds-epa- freight-efficiency-goals.aspx
- I have not been able to get Wabash to return my communications. I am trying to find out if they did any crash testing with their full-length skirts or what material it is made out of: http://news. wabashnational.com/wabash- national-demonstrates- concepts-for-next-generation- aerodynamic-solutions-on- navistars-supertruck
- DOE’s Navistar : http://www.truckinginfo.com/ news/story/2016/09/navistar- supertruck-beats-doe- efficiency-goals-hits-13-mpg. aspx
- Aerodynamic improvements that reduce the trailer’s drag coefficient by more than 30%. The vehicle is part of the DOE’s SuperTruck program – a five-year research and development initiative aimed at improving freight efficiency, based in the measure of the payload carried while burning less fuel.
Its objective is to develop and demonstrate a 50% improvement in overall freight efficiency on a Class 8 tractor-trailer vehicle as measured in ton-miles per gallon of diesel fuel.
Could they not have combined resources with DOT to accomplish such a thing?
Again, cost-savings over life-savings.
Can we use the potential fuel efficiency cost-savings of side guards advantageously to win the cost/benefit analysis battle?
Super Truck II is announced! Let’s get DOT to be involved with this project! $20,000 fuel savings/year could go to safety research!!!!!!!!!!!!
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was present for the unveiling of Volvo’s SuperTruck concept/demo rig in Washington, D.C. Here’s what he had to say about reaching the DOE’s next step in the fuel economy/freight efficiency project: SuperTruck II. http://www.truckinginfo. com/video/detail/2016/09/on- the-spot-reaching-for- supertruck-ii-video.aspx
More information on this SuperTruck project and random frustrated reactions:
$20 million in federal funding for the Super Truck II project and we can’t get diddly for side guard research?!?!?!!?!
http://www.truckinginfo.com/
Volvo Group said its team of researchers and engineers will use alternative engine designs and an integrated system approach to build a lightweight tractor-trailer concept that will exceed the freight efficiency goal of 100% improvement on a ton-mile-per-gallon basis compared to a 2009 baseline. The team is also tasked with demonstrating powertrain capable of 55% brake thermal efficiency. Volvo Group and its partners will match the development funds dollar-for-dollar.
To achieve these goals, the company plans to leverage its experience in vehicle development along with established partnerships with advanced technology and trailer equipment vendors.
Those partners include Michelin Americas Research Company for tires, Wabash National for trailers, Metalso for lightweight frames, Johnson-Matthey for exhaust aftertreatment systems, and Peloton Technology for platooning and connected vehicle tech. . .
Daimler Trucks North America will develop and demonstrate a tractor-trailer combination using a suite of technologies including active aerodynamics, cylinder deactivation, hybridization, and the electrification of accessories. . .
For more information on the DOE’s alternative fuel technology investment, click here. https://energy.gov/eere/
Related: DOE Commits $137M to Advance Fuel-Efficient Tech http://www.truckinginfo.
Yet more disturbing information:
This gives links to multiple articles on the SuperTruck project: http://www.
LOOK AT THIS ONE: http://www.truckinginfo.
Trailer aerodynamics have become increasingly important in recent years as truck operators see that they can save fuel money. They’re so important that the federal government is paying several teams of truck and trailer makers to design concept rigs that show what’s possible in this area of science.
As far back as the 1980s I’ve written about various types of trailer aero fairings, from Nose Cones to TrailerTails and many brands of skirts and other appendages in between.
Here’s one I don’t recall writing about, at least not lately: the UnderTray and other products from SmartTruck. The company has posted a YouTube video depicting a tractor-trailer moving through the air at highway speed, with streamlines showing how the devices smooth air flow over the vehicle. Check it out here.
Also note the Diffuser, SmartTruck’s device mounted ahead of the rear underride guard that redirects air away from its vertical and horizontal members. These otherwise grab at the air and create drag. (Old timers still call this the “ICC bumper” because the old Interstate Commerce Commission required them, something I definitely don’t recall being a fact, but it’s part of trucking vocabulary.)
The trailer portion of Freightliner’s SuperTruck of course got large panels that improve air flow around corners, deep skirts to keep air away from the Strick van’s undercarriage and tandem, and a boat tail similar to a Trailer Tail, but home-made. One would expect all of those.
What?!?!?!?!?!?! All of this government money going into research & development for fuel savings but not a word or project related to underride protection/SAFETY?!
Center for Auto Safety seeks Exec. Dir. to replace the late Clarence Ditlow’s work in auto safety advocacy.
The Center for Auto Safety is seeking an individual to replace the late Clarence Ditlow’s important work in auto safety advocacy.
Safety leaders gathered in January to honor the more than 40 years of work by Clarence M. Ditlow III in saving millions of Americans from death and injuries from vehicle violence. Joan Claybrook announced a goal of raising $5 million to continue Clarence’s work at the Center for Auto Safety (CAS).1
In a brief video Clarence, introduced by Ralph Nader, summarized his successful strategy to advance safety and consumer protection by establishing legal rights and remedies for the people and the legal profession. . .
The Center for Auto Safety is seeking an Executive Director
The job description reveals some of what Clarence did and what it took to accomplish.
Clarence is irreplaceable, but his work leaves a legacy of what to do to defend the American people against future vehicle violence. His pioneering work points to how to achieve further advances in safety and justice.
Doing Our Part
The American people need us to help grow a network of lawyers, crash victims (past, present, and future) and survivors, and consumer advocates to help fund and advance Clarence’s work. The stories of crash victims and their families need to be heard and heeded. To be heeded our voices need to be organized for effectiveness.
Think of a network of people who join together to continue Clarence’s work to stop the currently endless tragedies. We can help organize to build a more just and safer America.4
Send checks payable to the Ditlow Fund for Auto Safety using the Pledge form. Suggested donations: $35 to $5,000.
Center for Auto Safety’s Ditlow Fund Networking to Save Lives, by Lou Lombardo, Legal Reader, February 13, 2017
The battles are not finished; the work for safer roads must continue.
The murderous potential of vehicles & apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads
When searching for Tweets with the hashtag #roadsafety — which by the way seems to be more commonly mentioned outside of the U.S. — I ran across some interesting articles:
- The rules of the road exist to keep us safe. Why aren’t we enforcing them? by Mary Dejevsky A motorway collision with a lorry showed me how easy it is for disaster to strike – and raised my fear that excessive risk has been normalised. . . So, while you could argue that its road safety record allows the UK to coast awhile, you might also think about the two recent court cases and whether we pay due regard to the murderous potential of our vehicles. And then you might reasonably ask whether, with more rigorous enforcement, not only those serious accidents that have made the news could have been avoided, but also the many more minor ones such as ours. And who is best served by the apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads.
- These Two Women Designed A 3D Zebra Crossing In Gujarat And It’s One Of A Kind! by
“EU transport ministers back ‘ambitious’ vehicle safety improvements”
EU transport ministers back ‘ambitious’ vehicle safety improvements, February 10, 2017, European Transport Safety Council
Eight EU transport ministers have called on the European Commission to ‘speed up’ plans to upgrade vehicle safety standards saying road safety should be ‘top priority’.
In a letter to the European Commissioner for industry Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the transport ministers of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands said ‘ambitious’ new vehicle safety standards are needed ‘to help Member States halve the number of road deaths by 2020’. . .
In December 2016, the European Commission published a list of 19 lifesaving safety technologies that could be made mandatory on new vehicles in proposals expected later in 2017. At the time, the European Transport Safety Council said several critical areas for action are missing, and the proposed timescale is far too long considering that most of the technologies are already available today.
What about the United States?
Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?
The refusal of the federal government (White House and legislators) to respond to my requests for Vision Zero Rulemaking is negligent and indicative of a less-than-wholehearted commitment to a Vision of Moving Toward Zero Crash Deaths and Serious Injuries.
It’s a simple conclusion to arrive at: the lack of Vision Zero Rulemaking is responsible for the blocking and delay of many safety measures. If those safety measures had been implemented in a timely and compassionate fashion, countless lives would have been saved.
Who should we hold responsible?
Some posts related to that life & death question:
- Who should bear the responsibility for deaths & injuries due to known safety defects?
- Does a vehicle manufacturer bear responsibility for death and injury caused by a safety defect in their product?
- Each time a layer of apparent deception is peeled away, I am incensed at what seems like betrayal.
- What IS the government’s Vision Zero policy? Zero Deaths or Zero Jail Time?
- When will we figure out that somebody’s getting away with murder?
- Will the Road to Zero (Crash Deaths) include significant criminal penalties for corporate negligence?
- “Anton Yelchin’s Death Highlights a Known Issue With Jeeps”. . . NY Times & Care for Crash Victims
- Actor’s Death is Latest Example of Need for a National Vision Zero Goal & Traffic Safety Ombudsman
- “Power of Presidents to Protect People” (Legal Reader)
- Political Record on Vehicle Violence; #RepublicanConvention Theme: Make America Safe Again. Really?
- As Ralph Nader is inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, are cars “still unsafe at any speed”?
- “Power of People to Protect People” Lou Lombardo, Legal Reader
- “Money At Root of Takata’s Tragic History”
- Draft Dem. Platform: “Ensure Health & Safety…Gun Violence Prevention” But NOT Vehicle Violence
- Party Platforms Strangely Silent: Gun violence gets attention, though toll lower than vehicle violence
- Careless Attitudes Can Contribute to Unnecessary Deaths
- Is Cost/Benefit Analysis Appropriate for Life & Death Matters? Were their lives worth saving?
- Somebody, please get me an audience with President Obama to respond to my Vision Zero Petition!
- Truck Trailer Manufacturers Ass’n “Reminds” NHTSA: Side Guards Are “Not Cost-Effective” Says Who?
- What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?
- Side Underride Deaths Need To Be Addressed Now; To do otherwise would be negligent & unconscionable.
- Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?
Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?
Side Underride Deaths Need To Be Addressed Now; To do otherwise would be negligent & unconscionable.
Would the current freeze on federal rulemaking mean that there could be no action taken to initiate side underride protection [side guards] rulemaking? It is my understanding that rulemaking related to health and safety is allowable. And, in fact, side guards have already been included in multiple communications related to current rulemaking on underride guards for commercial motor vehicles:
- The underride rulemaking on rear guards on trailers is still open, not completed. They have previously told me that, even though the official Public Comment is closed, they will take into consideration other comments which they receive after that period.
- It fits under President Trump’s category of not-new rulemaking.
- They have already received our petition on May 5, 2014, which included a request for side guards: https://www.
federalregister.gov/documents/ 2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal- motor-vehicle-safety- standards-rear-impact-guards- rear-impact-protection ” NHTSA is still evaluating the Petitioners’ request to improve side guards and front override guards and will issue a separate decision on those aspects of the petition at a later date.” - Other people have mentioned side guards in their Public Comment when the ANPRM and NPRM on underride guards were issued in July 2014 and December 2015, respectively. https://www.
regulations.gov/document?D= NHTSA-2015-0070-0013 and https ://www.regulations.gov/ document?D=NHTSA-2015-0070- 0035 - We have, in fact, submitted a Comprehensive Consensus Underride Petition to NHTSA via this Public Comment process. So they know that we want side guards addressed as well: https://annaleahmary.com/
wordpress/wp-content/uploads/ 2016/09/Comprehensive- Underride-Consensus-Petition- Letter-to-DOT.pdf - Here is the Clarification of the requests in that Comprehensive Underride Petition: http://annaleahmary.
com/wordpress/wp-content/ uploads/2016/09/Clarification- of-the-Comprehensive- Underride-Consensus-Petition. pdf IT INCLUDES SIDE GUARDS. - I personally submitted a comment specifically about side guards: https://www.
regulations.gov/document?D= NHTSA-2015-0118-0039 - NHTSA, as far as I know, can re-write the current rulemaking — based upon feedback which they receive — to produce a Final Rule.
I don’t know if additional comments submitted at this time would get posted to the Federal Register online, but it is my understanding that NHTSA would receive them.
Besides which, this conversation was well underway as far back as 1969, and the victims of side underride crashes — past, present, and future — deserve to have this issue addressed here and now. To do otherwise would be negligent and unconscionable.
Oh, wait! What does that say about what we have already allowed to happen?
NBC News, “Side Underride Crashes Kill 200 People a Year. Will Congress Act?” by Ronan Farrow
Submit a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here. https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.
Do we prize mobility more than safety?
Vision Zero: The Swedish-Inspired Way American Cities Are Trying to End Pedestrian Deaths, As dozens of cities try to emulate Sweden’s success, they’re learning what works and what doesn’t.
What is clear to Pollack, based on her research and safety campaigns she’s helped design in Baltimore and New York City, is that education campaigns won’t be enough on their own. Long-lasting changes depend on changes to the physical roads. “Engineering strategies are really important, because those are sustainable,” she says. “If you educate somebody today, they might move away and then you have to worry about the new people coming in tomorrow. With engineering strategies, such as putting in traffic calming or putting in lights with delays so that pedestrians can cross, those are really sustainable and important.”. . .
“For so many years, mobility was the No. 1 concern for our roadways,” she says, “and safety was not even really even considered. So having that shift in culture, where we prioritize safety over mobility, is something that I’ve learned is going to take a long time to change.” The Swedish-Inspired Way American Cities Are Trying to End Pedestrian Deaths
Does it really have to be either/or? Mobility or safety? I don’t think so.
What will end our indifference to preventable deaths? I know we can figure this out.
