Category Archives: Safety Advocacy

How 2 taxi drivers encouraged this traffic safety advocate

Safety Advocacy,

While in Washington D.C., I met several taxi drivers. The first one picked me up at Union Station and, because he misunderstood the address I gave him, we ended up having a lengthy conversation — about his family and about my traffic safety advocacy because of my daughters’ deaths due to a truck crash. It was actually healing to have this stranger, a Christian, take my family’s tragedy to heart.

He ended up giving me that ride free and gave me his phone number for rides the next day. It reminded me anew that the Lord was watching over my going out and coming in.

Then, on my ride from my hotel as I headed back home, I got into some conversation with another taxi driver. As we neared Union Station, he noticed a traffic light on a post which someone had turned. He said, “Did you see that?! That could cause a crash. I have to tell a policeman about it.”

I quickly told him my story and how I was in town to make the roads safer. I gave him my AnnaLeah and Mary for Truck Safety card and thanked him for taking the trouble to help make the roads safer.

See. . . we can do this thing together!

Roads Safer

Truck Side Underride: Victims Without a Voice

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Sign our Side Guard Petition to let our government leaders and the trucking industry know that you want them to act NOW to SAVE LIVES:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/251/762/472/end-deadly-side-underride-crashes-mandate-side-guards-on-large-trucks/

Save Lives

If we do not speak up to prevent this senseless loss of lives,

tell me who will.

Donate to Underride Guard Research: AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety 501(c)(3) website

Other ways you can help.

AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety fundraising goals

In DC at Road to 0 Coalition Scenario Development Meeting

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety

Here’s hoping that 2 days of brainstorming on how to get to Zero traffic deaths and serious injuries will be amazingly fruitful.

creative-solutionsb

SAVE THE DATE for the Second Underride Roundtable: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at IIHS

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

SAVE THE DATE for the Second Underride Roundtable: Tuesday, August 29, 2017

We will continue to discuss how to bring about

the BEST POSSIBLE UNDERRIDE PROTECTION.

IIHS will once again co-host this event, with the Truck Safety Coalition and AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, at their Vehicle Research Center.

Save the Date

“Traffic deaths surged in first 9 months of 2016”

Safety Advocacy, , ,

Washington — Traffic deaths surged about 8 percent in the first nine months of last year, continuing an alarming upward spiral that began in late 2014, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates released Friday. . .

Read more here: Traffic deaths surged in first 9 months of 2016, Joan Lowy, Associated Press, Published 11:16 a.m. ET Jan. 13, 2017

The NHTSA Report with the statistics (but not the tears) is at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812358

Thus the Obama Administration is on track to record more than 250,000 deaths due to vehicle violence during 8 years in office. Lou Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims

Vehicle violence

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

“GM Tells NHTSA Some Takata Airbag Safety Risks are Inconsequential”; Send your comment to NHTSA

Safety Advocacy, , ,

The Takata airbag inflator saga continues as GM tells NHTSA some Takata airbag safety risks are inconsequential. As surprising as that may seem, the company asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to relieve it of any notification and remedy obligations pertaining to some passenger-side airbag inflators in its GMT900 vehicle platform. If granted, GM will not have to tell vehicle owners and lessors about the defects in these airbag inflators, much less replace them.

Takata filed a Defect Information Report (DIR) with NHTSA in May of 2016 when it discovered a defect in some of its passenger-side airbag inflators. When a DIR is filed by an automotive supplier, it then becomes the vehicle manufacturers’ responsibility to file a DIR of its own regarding the affected models. GM filed two DIRs on May 27, 2016. However, GM’s DIRs came with an attachment in which the company called the recalls “preliminary” as it didn’t agree that a defect actually existed in the inflators used in the GMT900 platform. GM’s statement included its expectations of providing NHTSA with “additional test data, analysis or other relevant and appropriate evidence in support of our belief that our vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety.” Despite that stance, the company added that it “will conduct a recall of its airbag inflators covered by the May 2016 Takata DIRs, unless GM is able to prove to NHTSA’s satisfaction that the inflators in its vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety.”

The company followed up in November 2016 with a petition to NHTSA asking to be absolved of its obligations to inform owners/lessors of the defect and to replace the defective parts.

GM Tells NHTSA Some Takata Airbag Safety Risks are Inconsequential

Read this article and submit comments to NHTSA by September 14, 2017.

Life & Death

 

AngelWing Side Guard Crash Test A Success!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

Great progress is being made in underride protection on the sides of large trucks in the month of January 2017. While Aaron Kiefer is preparing for a crash test of his innovative TrailerSafe System side/rear guard on January 20 in North Carolina, Airflow Deflector tested Perry Ponder’s Angel Wing side guard design in New York.

AngelWing

The Angel Wing crash test was declared a success: the side guard prevented the side of the trailer from going past the windshield thus promising protection from Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). In other words, it is likely that, due to the side guard in combination with the crashworthiness of the car, no one would have been killed or seriously injured by the collision between the side of this truck and a smaller passenger vehicle.

Side underride is not a new problem. For too long, nothing has been done about it. Yet here are two unique and innovative solutions to protect us from deadly side underride. Two Life-Savers.

I count myself privileged to be cheering these innovative and compassionate engineers on in their important work which will save countless lives. Now, here’s to getting these marvelous inventions onto the trucks we all drive around each day. . .

Amid ongoing debate over role of speed: “Michigan Approves Higher Speed Limits” Who is right?

Safety Advocacy,

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently signed legislation which:

. . . authorizes a 75 mph speed limit on 600 miles of freeways and a 65 mph limit on 900 miles of non-freeway roads. The bill also raises the maximum speed limit for trucks from 60 to 65 mph.

. . . the goal is to raise speed limits where 85 percent of drivers are already traveling at higher speeds and will protect motorists from being unnecessarily ticketed in “speed traps.”

It is also thought that less people exceeding the legal speed limit will allow law enforcement to focus on impaired, distracted or careless driving. . .

The bill will go into effect within one year if the study says it is safe. Michigan Approves Higher Speed Limits, Go By Truck Global News, Updated: January 10, 2017

Another article provides further insight:

“Ensuring that all Michiganders are safe while operating vehicles on our state’s roadways is critically important, and these bills allow for appropriately increased speed limits on certain roadways after safety studies are conducted,” Snyder said.

The main bill requires the Michigan Department of Transportation and Department of State Police to raise speed limits to 75 miles per hour on 600 miles of rural, limited-access freeways if a safety and engineering study deems it safe.

The bills also allow for speed limit changes in other areas, including:

  • Speed limits on gravel roads in counties with populations over 1 million would decrease to 45 miles per hour.
  • Up to 900 miles of rural state trunk line highways would see hikes to 65 miles per hour. 75-mph speed limits officially coming to Michigan, By Emily Lawler | elawler@mlive.com
    on January 05, 2017 at 11:47 AM, updated January 05, 2017 at 2:18 PM

Reading the comments to this article reminds me of my goal to revolutionize traffic safety advocacy by mobilizing the citizens of our country to get to the bottom of traffic safety issues and come up with solutions which show more concern for keeping people safe than saving corporate profit or protecting individual rights or relying solely on common sense and a sense of personal responsibility.

And I wonder what will happen when this engineering study is completed. What will Michigan do with the results? What will the rest of the states (and the cities therein) and the federal government do with the results? How will it be compared to traffic fatality statistics which show that speed is a factor in way too many crashes? Will we learn to intentionally design our roadways safer and set speed limits accordingly? Will this impact decision-making on truck speed limiters?

Is it possible that we could become a culture suitably enlightened and motivated to truly make safety a priority? Would a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman work to make sure that this was so?

stand-up-for-traffic-safety

To what lengths would you go to protect your loved ones?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Sometimes it seems like it is just too much to tackle — trying to do everything we can to protect our loved ones. But there is so much which can be done to prevent unnecessary tragedies — especially if we all pull together to do so. How could we walk away and leave anything undone?

Please pray for a multitude of details to come together to bring about Aaron Kiefer’s SIDE GUARD Crash Test on January 20, 2017. It seems like an insurmountable mountain and a shortage of time & resources. Time to speak to that mountain. . .

 
Specific Need: If anyone knows a truck owner, who would be interested in helping out with his/her tractor on January 20, please point ’em in my direction!
to-what-lengths

NHTSA Seeks Comments on Import of Ferrari With Questionable Side Airbags; Yes or No?

Safety Advocacy, ,

I don’t have the answer to this technical question; I hope someone figures it out before it is too late for someone else.

NHTSA has extended Public Comment Period to February 16, 2017 on the question of whether nonconforming model year (MY) 2013 and 2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta passenger cars (PCs) are eligible for importation into the United States.

On December 7, 2016, NHTSA published a notice (at 81 FR 88318) that it had received a petition to decide that nonconforming model year (MY) 2013 and 2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta passenger cars (PCs) are eligible for importation into the United States. The notice solicited public comments on the petition and stated that the closing date for comments is January 6, 2017.

This is to notify the public that NHTSA is extending the comment period on this petition, and allowing it to run until February 6, 2017. This extension is based on a request dated December 21, 2016, from Ferrari North America, Inc., and Ferrari SpA, (collectively “Ferrari”) the vehicle’s manufacturer. Ferrari stated that in its view an extension was needed because a portion of the comment period will be lost due to the holidays (during which time Ferrari SpA’s facilities will be closed), and because of the complexity of the technical analysis necessary to evaluate the petition and prepare any comments. Ferrari requests this extension especially with regard to FMVSS No. 208 conformance—in particular, the passenger-side airbag weight sensing system.

Ferrari also stated its view that an extension of the comment period will not prejudice the parties or cause undue delay, but will afford Ferrari the opportunity to fully evaluate the petition in order to determine the appropriate content of any Ferrari comments.

NHTSA has granted Ferrari’s request. All comments received before the close of business on the closing date indicated above will be considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be considered. Notice of final action on the petition will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

Make a Public Comment on the Federal Register before February 6, 2017:  https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA_FRDOC_0001-1749

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