Category Archives: Safety Advocacy

UN Regulation (No. 58) on rear underrun protection

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Underride regulations from the UN, Number 58:

E/ECE/324 E/ECE/TRANS/505 } Rev.1/Add.57/Rev.2 Regulation No. 58 page 3 Regulation No. 58 UNIFORM PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF:

I. REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTIVE DEVICES (RUPDs)

II. VEHICLES WITH REGARD TO THE INSTALLATION OF AN RUPD OF AN APPROVED TYPE

III. VEHICLES WITH REGARD TO THEIR REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTION (RUP

REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTIVE DEVICES (RUPDS)

This will take some careful review to understand the relevance and significance of this United Nations underride regulation.

This is what John Creamer told me today:

There is a UN Regulation (No. 58) on rear underrun protection.  In fact, a German-sponsored amendment to increase the stringency of this regulation (the 03 series of amendments) entered into force today, having been adopted by WP.29 last November.  The new requirements become mandatory starting from September 2019. 

However, UN R58 is a type approval regulation not applicable under the US system.  For a regulation to be established that could apply outside the type approval world, a signatory to the 1998 Agreement would have to propose working on one.  In principle, the United States could make such a proposal to WP.29.

Negotiated Rulemaking

The Father’s-Day-Pain From a Loss That Could Have Been Prevented

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

I still have difficult moments periodically when I beg God to make it not be true — because how can it be that AnnaLeah and Mary are really and true not alive anymore?

If onlyIMG_4465

12d Christmas 2012 Rocky Mount 065
Jerry and 3 of his daughters, Christmas 2012
Cat and flowers 008
Jerry, Father’s Day 2016

 

Dawn King, a friend-because-she-also-lost-a-loved-one-to-a-truck-crash, wrote about the hard time she has had with Father’s Day this year. She wrote about her dad,

I should be able to give him a call, send him a card, even go for a visit. A couple weeks ago I did an interview and at the end the reporter asked me to send her pictures of me and dad. I realized I didn’t really have any of him and me together, just the two of us. I thought to myself that I should get a few taken next time I was home.

And then I remembered. Again. I have to keep remembering over and over and it’s just as painful each time. Nothing left to add this Father’s Day

Dawn was interviewed for this video while at a Truck Safety Coalition conference in May 2013 (while our crash took place):

 

“Second Layer of Grief”; an experience shared by far too many

Safety Advocacy, ,

When I saw a Tweet the other day quoting Senator Chris Murphy as saying that survivors of the Orlando mass shooting experienced a “second layer of grief” “when they realize that those who expressed sympathy won’t take action,” I could relate to it.

Indeed, despite decades of safety advocacy efforts to draw attention to the problem of traffic crash fatalities, too little too late is being done to move us toward zero crash deaths and serious injuries.

I have asked Senator Murphy and Senator Booker to address this problem by championing the cause and setting a national vision zero goal as well as establishing an office of national traffic safety ombudsman (advocate).

Will they do it?

Ombudsman for Traffic Safety

 

INSIGHTS: HOW AND WHY U.S. NCAP IS CHANGING

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Last December 8, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced plans for a major upgrade to its 5-Star Safety Ratings new car assessment program, effective for vehicles manufactured after January 1, 2019. A major driver behind this announcement has been the heavy criticism from the US Congress following the failure of NHTSA to remedy the GM ignition and Takata airbag defect before they resulted in the deaths of 133 people.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind took up his post in December 2014 and quickly found himself playing defense against an assault of accusations, especially following the release of the NHTSA Inspector General’s report detailing shortcomings in the agency’s Office of Defects Investigations. In an effort to get ahead of this criticism, Rosekind has moved aggressively to assuage congressional concerns. . .

. . . the new NCAP would incorporate a number of collision avoidance technologies into the five-star rating (rather than listed as recommendations) described as: (1) forward collision warning, (2) crash imminent braking, (3) dynamic brake support, (4) lower beam headlight performance, (5) semi-automatic headlamp beam switching, (6) amber rear turn signal lamps, (7) lane departure warning, (8) rollover resistance, and (9) blind spot detection. NHTSA also plans to include pedestrian collision avoidance and rear automatic braking within its pedestrian safety rating under the NCAP.

 INSIGHTS: HOW AND WHY U.S. NCAP IS CHANGING? by John Creamer

The author mentions this possible concern with the process:

Nonetheless, rapid advances in vehicle safety technologies have challenged NHTSA capabilities, especially since the US rulemaking system requires NHTSA to clear a series of high hurdles before any new regulation can be enacted. Unable to rapidly issue changes to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), NHTSA has resorted to a voluntary agreement with automakers on automatic braking and the upgrade to its consumer information NCAP to reassure Congress that it is on the job and up to the challenge of new technologies.

Care 2 Petition Poster 008Washiington Vision Zero Petition photos 013

Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy

John Creamer is the founder of GlobalAutoRegs.com and a partner in The Potomac Alliance, a Washington-based international regulatory affairs consultancy. In his client advisory role, Mr. Creamer is regularly involved with meetings of the UN World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). Previously, he has held positions with the US International Trade Commission and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (representing the US automotive supplier industry), as the representative of the US auto parts industry in Japan, and with TRW Inc. (a leading global automotive safety systems supplier).

 

 

Global regulations underpin vehicle safety advances

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

While vehicle manufacturer and supplier networks globally will design, develop and implement greater levels of safety content than ever before, governmental and other interested stakeholder groups will continue to exert influence in bringing these technologies to marketing – in particular, where evidence shows that an advanced safety product can make a difference in reducing accidents, injuries and vehicle occupant and other road user fatalities.

Global regulations underpin vehicle safety advances  September 10, 2013

Can we help to bring about greater advancement in underride protection through global collaborative efforts? That’s what I would like to find out.

If only

INSTEAD OF LIKE THIS:

IMG_4465

Road safety: global health issue too-long ignored & 2 primary challenges to reducing road fatalities

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

So, this is an interesting read about road safety as a global health issue that has been ignored for too long. Please note the statement about the “two primary challenges to reducing road fatalities”:

Globally, road injuries are the top cause of death among people ages 15 to 29 – claiming upwards of a million lives a year. What’s more, 90% (pdf) of the world’s road deaths and serious injuries take place in low and middle-income countries, according to the United Nations (UN).

This global health emergency is finally starting to get the attention it deserves. We’re in the midst of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, which lasts until 2020; and in April, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to improve road safety.

But Dr Kelly Henning, leader of the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, says there are two primary challenges to reducing road fatalities. First, despite recent efforts to raise the profile of road safety, the issue isn’t broadly appreciated. Second, progress requires several sections of government to work together. As she notes: “It is about health, but also involves [action from] traffic police and road engineers, so it requires a lot of political attention.”  Road safety: the global health issue that’s been ignored for too long by Sue George, June 9, 2016

President Obama

More information on Underride & the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

That’s exciting. I woke up to a comment on our website related to my post about the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.

Here’s the comment:

The United States has been involved with WP.29 since its inception; however, the Forum originally focused on developing standards for Europe. It has only been a truly global effort since the late 1990’s. The US (NHTSA and the EPA) has been a major contributor to international research and development efforts, but when it comes to specific regulations, the US legal system operates under different principles from Europe.

The US was the first nation to set up a regulatory system for vehicle safety. Ralph Nader and others saw the issue as one of consumer protection and product liability while Europe later addressed safety more as an engineering and product certification issue. As a result, we have two main approaches (self-certification and type approval) and there are two international agreements (1958 and 1998) to allow for uniform regulations. Under the 1998 Agreement, WP.29 establishes Global Technical Regulations (GTR) that can be used under any system. (UN Regulations can only be used under a type approval system.) So at the international level, a state-of-the-art standard for rear underrun protection would involve looking at the current regulations in use around the world to see if the harmonization of requirements through a GTR would be practicable and beneficial. John Creamer, globalautoregs.com

John Creamer is the founder of GlobalAutoRegs.com and a partner in The Potomac Alliance, a Washington-based international regulatory affairs consultancy. In his client advisory role, Mr. Creamer is regularly involved with meetings of the UN World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). Previously, he has held positions with the US International Trade Commission and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (representing the US automotive supplier industry), as the representative of the US auto parts industry in Japan, and with TRW Inc. (a leading global automotive safety systems supplier).

I just emailed John to see what else I can find out from him about this possibility for world-wide collaboration on improving protection against deadly underride. Stay tuned.

(Just so long as it does not get in the way of forward progress meanwhile!)

Negotiated Rulemaking

In memory of AnnaLeah and Mary (and so many others). . .

Never forgotten

A Mother’s Journey Through Grief Brings Hope For Preventing Underride Truck Crashes-Andy Young

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Energy absorbing bumpers, crumple zones, and seatbelts could not save the lives of backseat passengers, 13 year-old Mary and 17 year-old AnnaLeah. They were traveling in a four-door sedan driven by their mother, Marianne Karth.

Highway traffic slowed to a stop as the Karth sedan was hit from behind by a semi-truck. The first impact spun their blue, four-door sedan 180 degrees. The same semi-truck’s momentum caused a second impact which shoved the Karth sedan backwards underneath yet another truck’s trailer. The rear bar on the second truck’s trailer was not strong enough to prevent the Karth vehicle from going underneath. The rigid structure of the trailer’s steel frame effortlessly shattered the back window, which failed to protect the back of the Karth girls’ heads and bodies. AnnaLeah died instantly. Four days later, Mary died as a result of her catastrophic injuries.

None of the car’s manufactured, safety engineering made a difference to save the lives of Marianne’s daughters. Why? Because the dynamics of the crash resulted in a truck underride.

Little did Marianne Karth know at that moment, on May 4, 2013, that she would become one of the nation’s leading truck safety advocates working toward meaningful prevention of underride truck crashes.

Read more here: Broken Glass And Shattered Lives – A Mother’s Journey Through Grief Brings Hope For Preventing Underride Truck Crashes  by Andrew Young

We were privileged to have Andy serve as the awesome panel moderator at the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016, at IIHS.

Andy Young and Marianne Karth

 

Millions of good reasons to adopt a National Vision Zero Goal & Appoint a Traffic Safety Ombudsman

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

There are millions of good reasons for the United States to adopt a National Vision Zero Goal and to appoint a Traffic Safety Ombudsman to oversee the pursuit of that goal. Millions of potential saved lives that is–over the coming years here in the U.S. and in the countries who might well follow in our footsteps (if they don’t get there before us).

There are so many examples of why we should do this thing of vital importance and here are just a few which I found this morning as I briefly checked my email and Twitter:

Why on earth don’t we take a unified approach to going about the business of saving lives?!?!?!!?!?!

Why on earth don’t we establish National Traffic Safety Standards & require them to be adopted by States?

What would I do if I were the National Traffic Safety Ombudsman? I dare you to read it and find out. In fact, I hope you do and that it inspires you to come up with some ideas of your own.

Who should we blame if we continue to plod along and pretend that we are doing everything possible to reduce preventable and  unimaginable tragedies? Well?!

President Obama Crash Deaths

Stoughton Trailers values safety & provides improved rear underride protection at no additional cost.

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety

ccjdigital reports on Stoughton Trailers upgraded rear underride guard.

The article discusses Stoughton’s new rear underride guard, which was tested at IIHS on May 5, 2016, as part of the Underride Roundtable and performed well in the 30% offset crash at 35 mph. I would like to see them tested at higher speeds to see how they perform under more severe conditions.

An excerpt from the article:

“After thorough testing, we are confident that this design will set the new standard for rear underride safety in our industry,” said Stoughton Trailers President and CEO Bob Wahlin. “We place such a high value on the safety of both our customers and the driving public that we have chosen to provide this improved level of safety and performance as a standard feature — and at no additional cost.”

The company also said the underride guard design complies with all U.S. and Canadian regulations. In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a rule that would require underride guards on the back of all trailers. Most trailers sold in the U.S. – 93 percent according to NHTSA – already comply with the proposed rulemaking.

I appreciate Stoughton’s stated commitment to safety and their ability to provide greater protection at “no additional cost.” I hope that that serves as a powerful precedent.

But can they meet the conditions of the Australian proposed underride rule which we will be discussing at the follow-up meeting on June 24 at IIHS in Arlington from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.? That’s what I would like to know.
Raphael Grzebieta from Australia will be making a presentation so that we can determine whether Australian proposed standards would make sense for the U.S. Gary Fenton, from Stoughton, will be participating in that meeting. Should be interesting. . .
Additionally there will be other underride issues to consider as well, including side and front underride/override, conspicuity (adequate marking for visibility), parking of tractor-trailers (leading to greater likelihood of crashes), maintenance, and enforcement. Resolution of each of these issues could lead to additional saved lives.
Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 148Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 168
Jerry’s letter to Stoughton’s CEO, Bob Wahlin, in January 2014, in which he asked for improved guards:  Stoughton trailer manufacturer letter