Just last week, there was a pile-up of 37 vehicles in snowy conditions on I-75 in Michigan. Thankfully, there were no fatalities — plenty of totaled vehicles, I’m sure, but no fatalities.
Had there been truck underride by passenger vehicles, it could have been a whole different story.
See photos of the 37-vehicle pile-up here: Several injured in 37-vehicle pileup on I-75 near Holly Road
The IIHS just published the results of their study of large trucks and crash risks. Topics covered include:
Read more here: Safety defects and long hours contribute to large truck crashes, Status Report, Vol. 51, No. 10 | December 8, 2016
It didn’t take me long — after our family’s tragic truck crash — to grasp the futility of lobbying on The Hill as a truck safety advocate in an attempt to push for safer roads through safer regulations.
And then I learned a secret (shh). . . DOT’s safety agencies have their hands tied by an Executive Order (12866) which requires stringent cost/benefit analysis during rulemaking that too often undervalues human life & health and effectually allows industry lobbyists to sabotage and snuff out regulations which could make our roads more safe to travel on.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the DOT agencies which were meant to be our protectors — the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier SAFETY Administration) & NHTSA (National Highway Traffic SAFETY Administration) — have not proven to be consistently effective voices for our SAFETY.
That revelation — in combination with my own experience in wasted lobbying hours and my realization that others had tried unsuccessfully for decades before me to push for truck safety rules which might have saved my daughters — spurred me on to launch the Vision Zero Petition in 2015. It garnered over 20,000 signatures online in support of our requests for:
Although we took this Petition to DC in March 2016, we have not yet received a response to our requests. And, as I expected, the month of December 2016 has presented us with one more example of the need for this essential strategy: a resurrection of the Tired Trucker hours of service tug-of-war.
All of this, and more — most especially my daughters’ truck crash deaths which might have been prevented had all of this nonsense been addressed appropriately — has led to my efforts to work with others to organize a successful Truck Underride Roundtable and an upcoming Tired Trucker Roundtable.
And I really do keep hoping that a national traffic safety advocate will be appointed and Vision Zero Rulemaking will become a thing. . .
Panel explores how humans, robot cars will interact
Melissa Nann Burke, Detroit News Washington Bureau 7:29 p.m. EST December 6, 2016
“At a Capitol Hill roundtable Tuesday, industry reps and lawmakers grappled with potential safety issues concerning how human drivers will interact with emerging autonomous technologies on roadways.
“The discussion, organized by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, drew a standing-room-only crowd on a rainy day in Washington. . .
“Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said Congress could help by promoting cooperation and coordination among federal agencies with a role in overseeing various parts of the autonomous vehicle revolution — from NHTSA to the Federal Communications Commission, to the Environmental Protection Agency, to the Departments of Homeland Security and Agriculture.”
That sounds a lot like my suggestions for a national Vision Zero strategy, including a National Vision Zero Goal, a White House Vision Zero Task Force, Vision Zero Rulemaking, and a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to oversee/coordinate/facilitate all of it!
No guarantees that safety technology will live up to its promise. https://t.co/W1NLKbVLEj Via @detroitnews pic.twitter.com/jsq7ogwhrH
— IIHS (@IIHS_autosafety) December 7, 2016
“We have a law in Texas you don’t have to wear your [motorcycle] helmet, ’cause we don’t care about our stupid people.” Mark Lowry
After Josh and his sister survived a crash due to a texting driver, he decided to do something about the problem of distracted driving due to cell phone use.
“This honour system where we expect you to protect yourself, put your phone away while driving, it doesn’t work,” said Josh, now 26. “Technology created the problem and technology is the only way to solve the problem.”
Today, Josh and his father have a company called Keeping Roads Safe, which makes a product called DriveCare. The device prevents drivers’ mobile phones from displaying calls, texts and social media notifications while their vehicles are turned on, sending an automatic reply to incoming text messages informing the sender the recipient is driving and unable to respond.
– See more at: https://keepingroadssafe.ca/fatal-distraction-national-post/#sthash.NiEuBsxR.dpuf
Louis Lombardo, respected auto safety researcher, advocate, and the publisher of Care For Crash Victims Reports, has written an insightful article for the Legal Reader:
Power of Presidents to Protect People, December 6, 2016
Lombardo notes that, “The history of Presidents using powers to protect people has resulted in millions of lives saved.”
He also provides insight into presidential, “Milestones in the history of protecting people – and in failing to protect people.” For example, “By 2008, 3.4 million Americans had lost their lives to vehicle violence. President Obama will be sadly remembered for weak oversight of the auto industry resulting in many needless deaths and injuries.”
What will the next four years look like, I wonder?
One way that our president could use his power to protect people would be by taking the initiative to move our country toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries through these actions:
December 6, 2016, Press Release from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition of truck safety advocate organizations:
Washington, D.C. – Tonight, the text of the FY 2017 Continuing Resolution (Rules Committee Print 114-70) was released revealing that the Obama truck driver hours of service (HOS) rule will be decimated with the removal of the two safety provisions, a two-consecutive night off requirement and a one-week limitation on the use of the 34-hour restart.
The saga continues. And, it is my opinion that a resolution to this endless tug-of-war over trucker hours of service will only come through a more comprehensive strategy to deal with the underlying issues which lead to truck driver fatigue.
In fact, I am working with others to organize a Tired Trucker Roundtable, with the same goal which led us to organize the Underride Roundtable: to bring together in one room all those who are impacted by this issue and those who could do something about it.
Tired Trucker Roundtable: If we plan it, they will come. Can we pull it off?
The press release continues:
Safety groups responded to this news:
Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), said, “In a major assault on the safety of families and truck drivers across the country, the House and Senate Republican leaders just delivered special trucking interests an early Christmas present. Language inserted in the year-end government funding bill repeals key safety features of the Obama Administration’s truck driver hours of service rule intended to combat truck driver fatigue. The Obama rule requires that after a grueling week of 75 or more work hours, truck drivers, who take only the minimum 34-hours off duty between work weeks, must get two consecutive nights of rest during the 34-hour off duty period. Studies show that nighttime sleep is much more restful than attempts to sleep during daytime. Special interests succeeded in getting this rollback despite the growing problem of truck driver fatigue in the industry, unabated increases in truck crash deaths and injuries, and overwhelming public opposition.
However, none of this mattered to trucking interests and their friends on the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. This attack on safety comes at a critical time. Last year, 4,067 people were needlessly killed in crashes involving large trucks, representing an increase of 4 percent from the previous year and a 20 percent increase from 2009. This is the first time truck crash deaths have exceeded 4,000 since 2008. Further, preliminary 2015 federal government data shows 116,000 people were injured in crashes involving large trucks — an increase of 57 percent since 2009. The annual cost to society from crashes involving commercial motor vehicles is estimated to be over $110 billion.
It is simply unthinkable that any industry with such an abysmal safety record and responsible for so many innocent deaths and injuries could actually find so many willing partners in Congress to push their greedy anti-safety agenda.”
Joan Claybrook, Chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) and former Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, stated, “This action to rip out essential safety protections for hard-working truck drivers who deserve a weekend off for adequate rest and recovery time is yet another example of the grip that corporate trucking interests have on some Members of Congress. The American public is scared of sharing the road with exhausted and overworked drivers behind the wheel of a big rig and with good reason. In fatal crashes involving a large truck and a passenger car, 98% of the deaths are the occupants of the car. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have held more than 100 congressional hearings this year. However, the Republican Committee leaders never allowed a single hearing on this important issue. Instead, the repeal of the truck safety provisions was secretly attached to a must pass spending bill because they knew it wouldn’t pass muster. This action will literally have life and death consequences for truck drivers and all motorists sharing the roads with them. This ‘tired trucker’ provision has no place in this bill and Congress has no business coddling trucking interests using a backdoor legislative maneuver to circumvent public debate and conceal safety impacts.”
Daphne Izer, Founder of Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), responded, “Once again, our lawmakers caved to special interests and put everyone who travels our roads at risk by including the “tired trucker” provision in the Continuing Resolution. As a mother who began advocating to make trucking safer after my son Jeff was killed by a truck driver who fell asleep while driving, I am devastated that language to increase the number of hours that truck drivers can drive and work was included in a must-pass bill. This rollback of the Hours of Service rules will do nothing to address the issue of driver fatigue and will certainly not reduce the number of fatigue related crashes. It does, however, show a disregard for the nearly 100,000 people who have been killed in truck crashes since I began working to make trucking safer, and the families like mine who are left to cope with the grief that decisions like these cause.”
Lou Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims, provides this tool:
An information resource is the map of all Congressional Districts (114th Congress) with a tally of a decade of vehicle violence deaths in each district over the past decade. Available to the public at https://www.arcgis.com/home/
More on deadly drowsy driving:
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Please see Press Release from Senators who care about preventing needless deaths and injuries.
The public needs to be warned that the nation’s largest new auto dealer has broken its promise to stop selling used vehicles with safety defects.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maria McElwain (Blumenthal)
Giselle Barry (Markey)
December 6, 2016
BLUMENTHAL & MARKEY RESPOND TO AUTONATION DECISION TO RESUME SALES OF “DEADLY” CARS UNDER RECALL
Senators Call on Auto Retailer to Fully Inform
Consumers of Broken Promise
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), authors of the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act, issued the following statement after AutoNation, Inc. – the nation’s largest new auto retailer – announced that it is reversing its policy to stop selling cars with recalled safety defects until the defective parts are repaired.
“AutoNation’s decision to resume the sale of deadly used cars in the wake of this presidential election is deeply troubling, and will lead to tragic consequences on our nation’s roads and highways. After reversing course on its widely-advertised pledge to not sell defective cars, AutoNation now bears the responsibility of informing consumers about its broken promise. The company now has an obligation to publicize its decision to reverse course as widely as its original move towards better safety,” the Senators said. “Unfortunately, until Congress acts to ensure there is a level playing field for used car dealers who want to do the right thing for their customers, we will continue to see cars with deadly defects on our roads. In the wake of this announcement, we plan to double down on efforts to protect consumers from the worry that they might be buying a used car with unrepaired recalls.”
In 2015, Blumenthal and Markey introduced the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act, which would require used car dealers to repair any outstanding safety recalls in used automobiles prior to selling or leasing and the Repairing Every Car to Avoid Lost Lives (RECALL) Act that would require owners of vehicles with open safety recalls to be notified and help ensure defects are repaired. The Senators have also urged auto manufacturers to take necessary action to protect consumers after defective parts are identified and recalled.
Lou Lombardo
CBS News reported this morning on AAA research which studied the dangers of drowsy driving:
New research shows how deadly it can be to drive when you’re tired. The AAA study found drivers who miss two to three hours of sleep a day more than quadruple their risk of getting in a crash, compared to drivers who sleep for seven hours.
According to federal regulators, the accident risk from drowsy driving is comparable to driving drunk. AAA is now urging people to make sure drivers are as alert as possible. One-third of drivers report hitting the roads when they have a hard time keeping their eyes open, which is proving to be deadly, reports CBS News correspondent Errol Barnett.
Videos show how quickly a drowsy driver can lose control. Read more here: AAA study finds risks of drowsy driving comparable to drunk driving
See more on this deadly issue at our webpage on DRIVER FATIGUE (https://annaleahmary.com/driver-fatigue/):
“Gadget to stop Drivers Nodding Off at the Wheel Could Become Compulsory in new European regulations. My goodness, if this can be done & would Save Lives, why would we NOT do it, America?! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/Gadget-to-stop-drivers-nodding…
DWF = Driving While Fatigued (or Drowsy Driving)
Driver fatigue can affect any driver–you included, or the driver of a vehicle in which you are a passenger.
“…Driving while fatigued is comparable to driving drunk, only there is not the same social stigma attached. Like alcohol, fatigue affects our ability to drive by slowing reaction time, decreasing awareness and impairing judgment. Driving while sleep impaired is a significant issue, and is no longer tolerated. Legislation {in Canada} is beginning to change by handling collisions cause by a fatigued driver as seriously as alcohol-impaired crashes.” https://canadasafetycouncil.org/…/driver-fatigue-falling-as…”
Tired Trucker Roundtable: If we plan it, they will come. Can we pull it off?
