Stifled Grief: How the West Has It Wrong Huff Post (Common Grief)
It is my grief — my ongoing heartfelt loss — which compels me to ask these questions.
Is Cost/Benefit Analysis Appropriate for Life & Death Matters? Were their lives worth saving?
Category Archives: Safety Advocacy
Send @POTUS a D-Day Message: End 33,000 crash deaths/yr. Make Traffic Safety a National Priority
I received an email from President Obama this week in response to a message which I sent to him in March on the whitehouse.gov Contact Form–asking him to read the Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition which we had delivered to him. The news is not really that great. This is what he said: Email from President Obama
He expressed sympathy and thanked me for writing, but he did not say that he would do anything about the problem or the requested solution/action/strategy. Please help me make sure that he knows that the people of this country want him to make Traffic Safety a National Priority.
On D-Day, Monday, June 6, 2016, STARTING at NOON (EST), help me flood the media with this message in reply to President Obama (see the sharing links below):
- Share on Twitter: @PresidentObama @POTUS Do something about 33,000 crash deaths/yr. Make Traffic Safety a National Priority! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX-3CPyGA7c
- Send a message to @President Obama on Facebook: President Obama, Make Traffic Safety A National Priority
- Share this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/dOP9H_rOi4w
For more information, see previous post: I got an email from President Obama this week.
President Obama, Do something to help us move more quickly toward zero crash deaths! Make Traffic Safety a National Priority.
Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem.
And don’t forget about the crash injuries. In 2013, approximately 2.31 million people were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes.
Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem.
Apparently, President Obama is okay with the current state of traffic fatalities. Anyway it sounds as if he thinks that we have already done all we can to reduce crash deaths.
At least that is what it sounds like to me from last night’s PBS News Hour video of President Obama speaking at a Town Hall (June 2, 2016):
“We used to have really bad auto fatality rates. The auto fatality rate has actually dropped precipitously, drastically since I was a kid. Why is that? We decided we had seat belt laws. We decided to have manufacturers put air bags in place. We decided to crack down on drunk driving and texting. We decided to redesign roads so that they were less likely to have a car bank.
“We studied what is causing these fatalities using science and data and evidence. And then we slowly treated it like the public health problem it was. And it got reduced.”
See President Obama talking about this, starting at 1:57 on this video: https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10154247237078675/
Interesting. This is what I noticed about what he said:
- He identified auto fatalities as a public health problem.
- He referred to it in the past tense.
- He did not acknowledge that there is still a long ways to go and that there are still way too many preventable crash deaths occurring every year.
- He did not mention that 33,000 people — like AnnaLeah and Mary, real people, whom someone will miss — are still dying every year and that we should make it a national priority to work on them.
- He also did not mention that more than 2 million people are seriously injured in crashes each year.
- He did not take that opportunity to say let’s set a national vision zero goal and work on this together.
President Obama, are you aware that over 20,000 people have asked you to set a Vision Zero Goal and to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order. We need a Vision Zero Task Force to address specific traffic safety issues and we need Vision Zero Rulemaking policies and we need a Traffic Safety Ombudsman to over see this ongoing public health problem–in ways that are not now being done.
Could we please sit down and talk about this so we can get on the same page?
Marianne
p.s. I, for one, daily face the loss of my two daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13). And I know for a fact that more could have been done — but wasn’t — to prevent their deaths.
“Growing Momentum for Self-Driving Cars Worries Safety Advocates” Fair Warning
Growing Momentum for Self-Driving Cars Worries Safety Advocates – See more at: http://www.fairwarning.org/2016/06/self-driving-cars/#sthash.V6EZIQZe.eVIkkjWL.dpuf
Other related articles:
I got an email from President Obama this week.
I received an email from President Obama this week in response to a message I sent to him in March on the whitehouse.gov Contact Form–asking him to read the Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition which we had delivered to him. This is what he said:
Dear Marianne,
Thank you for writing. There are no words to ease the pain of losing a loved one, but I hope fond memories help temper the grief you must feel.
At this difficult time, please know I will keep fighting for people like you every single day I hold this office. You and your loved ones will be in my thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.
Thank you, again, for taking the time to write. I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
On D-Day, Monday, June 6, 2016, STARTING at NOON (EST), help me flood the media with this message in reply to President Obama (see the sharing links below):
President Obama,
Thank you for your sympathy and kind words. But what I, and over 20,000 Vision Zero Petition signers, want is for you to do what no one else in this country can do: Make Traffic Safety a National Priority!
- Set a National Vision Zero Goal to move us toward zero crash deaths.
- Establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force.
- Sign a Vision Zero Executive Order; and
- Appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to oversee our progress in making our roads safer.
Looking forward to hearing from you again soon,
Marianne Karth
Please share this Traffic Safety Virtual Flash Mob Game Plan with others before Monday, June 6, D-Day:
- Read this post.
- Put this Virtual Event on your calendar.
- Share this blogpost with others who you think might want to help.
- On Monday, June 6, 2016, D-Day starting at noon EST, post this vital message –using every form of social media at your disposal:
- Share on Twitter: @PresidentObama @POTUS Do something about 33,000 crash deaths/yr. Make Traffic Safety a National Priority! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX-3CPyGA7c
- Send a message to @President Obama on Facebook: President Obama, Make Traffic Safety A National Priority
- Share this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/dOP9H_rOi4w
On Monday, June 6, we will remember the sacrifice of the armed forces as they fought to bring an end to WWII.
On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” https://www.army.mil/d-day/
President Obama, we will accept nothing less than a full-fledged, national effort to move toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries. Lead the way!
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Prayer on D-Day, June 6, 1944
In memory of AnnaLeah & Mary, precious ones whose lives were cut far too short:
“The Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act is now the law of the land!”
A GOOD NEWS Report from Lou Lombardo:
June 1, 2016
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Great news from Cally Houck:
WE WON!!! Thank you, everyone!
cally houck
Ojai, CA
Jun 1, 2016 — The Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, named for my beautiful and talented daughters, is now the law of the land!!
Thank you to everyone who pitched in to make this happen. We still have work to do, to close the car dealers’ loaner-car loophole. But meanwhile, this is a huge victory.
To their credit, the rental car companies themselves worked with me and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, and Dr. Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, our champions in Congress, and other consumer groups to get the law enacted.
Good to know that we the people can change the law to protect precious lives, when enough of us speak up.
Cally Houck
The Detroit News reports:
Washington — Rental car companies are prohibited from distributing vehicles that have been recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under a new federal law that took effect Wednesday.
The new law requires rental companies with fleets of more than 35 vehicles to pull recalled cars from their rotations until they are repaired.
The prohibition was included in a $305 billion highway bill that was approved by Congress last year. It was originally introduced as a bill that was named after Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, sisters who were killed in a 2004 crash in California that involved a rental car that had been recalled. Their mother, Cally Houck, lobbied Congress for years to approve the change.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said he is happy to enforce the ban now that has Congress has codified the prohibition in federal law.
“When a family picks up a rental car on vacation, they should be able to expect it is free of any known safety defect,” Foxx said in a statement. “I thank Congress and the safety advocates who helped turn this common-sense idea into law.”
The ban on recalled cars does not apply to used car dealerships, despite a push from safety advocates to also apply the prohibition to them.
Backers of the ban on rental companies distributing recalled cars said it is a major victory that the ban is taking effect today, even as they vowed to continue pushing for a wider prohibitions including the sale of recalled used cars by dealers.
“I’m thrilled that the Safe Rental Car Act named for my beautiful, treasured daughters, Raechel and Jacqueline, is now the law of the land. But I’m worried about the loaner-car loophole for car dealers and remain committed to closing that dangerous safety gap,” Cally Houck said in a statement distributed on Wednesday by the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety group.
“If this law was in existence when my cherished, beautiful daughter Jewel rented a car, she would still be alive today,” added Alexander Brangman, whose 26-year-old daughter Jewel died in a 2014 crash while she was driving a rented 2001 Honda Civic.
Lawmakers in Washington who pushed for the inclusion of the recalled rental ban in the massive highway funding law that was approved last year also touted the implementation of the prohibition on Wednesday.
“I am so proud that the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act takes effect today so that the public can be assured that when they rent a car, it cannot be under recall,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who introduced multiple bills contain the ban before it was added to the 2015 highway bill.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., added: “This law is going to save lives, period. Families heading out for vacation or businesspeople on travel should never have to wonder if their rental car is under recall when they drive it off the lot. Thanks to this bill, the millions of people who rent cars every year will have peace of mind that rental companies can’t rent or sell cars that they know are unsafe.”
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind agreed, saying the recalled rental ban gives his agency “one more tool to protect the safety of U.S. motorists,” although he lamented the fact that there are currently more than 900 active auto recalls.
For more on the history of this safety victory see the book Death by Rental Car available at
https://www.amazon.com/Death-
Great safety advance!
Lou Lombardo
Stay tuned for a D-Day Vision Zero Virtual Flash Mob calling for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman
Next Monday, June 6, we will remember the sacrifice of the armed forces as they fought to bring an end to WWII.
On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” https://www.army.mil/d-day/
On June 6, 2016, let us also remember the countless victims of traffic crashes in our country. Michael Lemov has written an eye-opener, Car Safety Wars: One Hundred Years of Technology, Politics, and Death in which he tells us that in the more than 110 years since the first traffic crash in 1898, more than 3.5 million Americans have been killed and more than 300,000,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes [p.9]. This, I learned, is 3x the number of Americans who have been killed and 200x the number wounded in all of the wars fought by our nation since the Revolution [p.10]. Imagine.
And, beyond that, let us seize the moment to send out a loud message to President Obama and members of Congress:
Move Us Toward Zero Crash Deaths: Create an Office of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate)
Despite the 33,000 people who die annually on the roads each year, our country does not currently have a reliable means of addressing the problem. These people cannot cry out in protest. And there is no one who has been granted the responsibility and authority to speak on their behalf.
I think I have a way to change that unfortunate oversight.
Let’s appoint an ombudsman to stand in the place of vulnerable road users (each one of us). Let’s create a National Office of Traffic Safety Ombudsman (or Advocate or Ombuds), who would serve to advance a National Vision Zero Goal–acting to oversee the process of moving us toward zero crash deaths and serious injuries.
An indigenous Danish, Swedish and Norwegian term, ombudsman is etymologically rooted in the Old Norse word umboðsmaðr, essentially meaning “representative” (with the word umbud/ombud meaning proxy,attorney, that is someone who is authorized to act for someone else, a meaning it still has in the Scandinavian languages). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman
Stay tuned for a way to participate in a Virtual Flash Mob on June 6, 2016, to send this life & death message to our country’s leaders.
Let this be, a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”
More here: Move Us Toward Zero Crash Deaths: Create Office of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate)
Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate); Missing piece of Vision Zero Strategy
Move Us Toward Zero Crash Deaths: Create Office of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate)
Despite the 33,000 people who die annually on the roads each year, our country does not currently have a reliable means of addressing the problem. These people cannot cry out in protest. And there is no one who has been granted the responsibility and authority to speak on their behalf.
I think I have a way to change that unfortunate oversight.
Let’s appoint an ombudsman to stand in the place of vulnerable road users (each one of us). Let’s create a National Office of Traffic Safety Ombudsman or Advocate or Ombuds to advance a National Vision Zero Goal–acting to oversee the process of moving us toward zero crash deaths and serious injuries.
An ombudsman or public advocate is usually appointed by the government or by parliament, but with a significant degree of independence, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman
In fact, in October 2015, Congress created just such an office for small businesses:
WASHINGTON – Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced today that Earl L. Gay will serve as SBA’s National Ombudsman and Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Enforcement Fairness.
In Gay’s new role he will oversee an office created by Congress that is responsible for the reporting and review of Federal regulatory actions that impact small business. He will also serve as a liaison between Federal agencies and those small businesses facing regulatory and compliance issues. Additionally, he will lead regional roundtables and public hearings and manage a national network of 10 regional regulatory fairness boards charged with advising SBA on Federal regulations unduly burdening small businesses.
Small businesses have a National Ombudsman. Why not do the same for the victims of tragic, preventable traffic crashes?
What are we waiting for?! This would be the perfect complement to our Vision Zero Petition requests for a National Vision Zero Goal, a White House Vision Zero Task Force, and a Vision Zero Executive Order. In fact, the Traffic Safety Ombuds(man) (Advocate) would fit in extremely well with this plan and, now that I think about it, is actually probably the missing piece of the puzzle for making Vision Zero a viable goal:
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would develop, refine, and monitor the pursuit of a National Vision Zero Goal.
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would oversee the White House Vision Zero Task Force.
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would be the watchdog to make sure that the Vision Zero Executive Order and Vision Zero rulemaking were carried out appropriately on behalf of travelers on the road.
Makes sense to me. Because, really, who would be given the responsibility and authority to oversee these things otherwise?! This could be the turning point in our drive to see a Vision Zero policy adopted. (Hallelujah Chorus).
Now all we have to do is get the ear of President Obama and persuade him to appoint this very important person.
I don’t particularly care what the position/Office ends up being called (Ombudsman, Advocate, Ombuds). Just create it, Congress or President Obama or whoever has the authority to do so!
Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate); Missing piece of Vision Zero Strategy
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before!
This morning, as I was waking up, I was thinking about a facebook post which I had read before I went to bed last night. It was a comment by the aunt of a truck crash victim who was thanking the mother of another truck crash victim for her many years of advocating for truck safety.
I was thinking, “There’s something wrong with that picture!” I’ve only been involved for three years in this battle for safer roads and already I am thoroughly aghast at the inhumane way safety issues are at the mercy of a political tug-of-war. Why on earth is it such a struggle to get this country to make saving lives a priority?! Year after year. After year.
The simple, obvious answer, of course, is that the political sway of industry lobby ($) has power far greater than the voice of those advocating for the victims, or, in this case, advocates trying to prevent people from becoming victims!
Supposedly, Congress did something about that back in 1966 with the National Traffic & Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Out of that has come DOT with its agencies like NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration). But somehow these, too are caught up in the throes of a battle, along with members of Congress, which hardly ever results in truly safer roads.
Well, as I was reflecting on this, suddenly an idea popped into my head. Ombudsman! We need a Traffic Safety Ombudsman (or Ombuds)–an independent advocate to promote safety interests and defend travelers on the road.
I know why the idea popped into my head. Back in 1977, when I was newly-married and newly-graduated from college, I took a job as a VISTA Volunteer (meaning a Peace Corps-like volunteer who worked dirt-cheap in the U.S. for a non-profit). In this case, I worked as Director of a local chapter of a statewide patient advocacy organization for nursing home patients–Citizens for Better Care.
So I was basically a Patient Advocate at the local level–speaking up on behalf of nursing home patients. Family members could bring complaints to us and we would help to resolve the problem.
I was supported by a local board but also by the state office of CBC and by the Long Term Care Ombudsman at the State level (Doug Roberts at the time). And this is what, today, made me think: Ombudsman! Traffic Safety Ombudsman (or Advocate) ! Eureka!
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but this seems to me to be the perfect solution to the political tug-of-war over traffic safety: Create an Office of Traffic Safety Ombudsman to oversee traffic safety issues. Why? Because currently no one holds such an unadulterated role.
Before I got my day too far underway (I was getting ready to go help with another crash test of Aaron Kiefer’s side/rear guard prototype), I looked up the term ombudsman online and I discovered that it has a rich history. And one of the important features of the role is that it is established as an independent position. It is specifically designed to be immune to political pressure!
An ombudsman or public advocate is usually appointed by the government or by parliament, but with a significant degree of independence, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or a violation of rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman
What are we waiting for?! This would be the perfect complement to our Vision Zero Petition requests for a National Vision Zero Goal, a White House Vision Zero Task Force, and a Vision Zero Executive Order. In fact, the Traffic Safety Ombuds(man) (Advocate) would fit in extremely well with this plan and, now that I think about it, is actually probably the missing piece of the puzzle for making Vision Zero a viable goal:
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would develop, refine, and monitor the pursuit of a National Vision Zero Goal.
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would oversee the White House Vision Zero Task Force.
- The Traffic Safety Ombuds would be the watchdog to make sure that the Vision Zero Executive Order and Vision Zero rulemaking were carried out appropriately on behalf of travelers on the road.
Makes sense to me. Because, really, who would be given the responsibility and authority to do so otherwise?! This could be the turning point. (Hallelujah Chorus).
Now all we have to do is get the ear of President Obama and persuade him to appoint this very important person.
Annual Motor Vehicle Inspection Form: Are underride guards adequately inspected?
While we were getting set up for a side guard crash test this morning, I was taking photos of the tractor-trailer that was part of the test. I noticed an Annual Motor Vehicle Inspection form on the trailer. I looked it over trying very hard to find a line item by which the inspector and truck owner/driver would be reminded to check the condition of the rear underride guard which is required by law to be installed and maintained.
I could not find anything listed about underride guards.
Actually, I had picked one of these forms up in a truck stop previously and couldn’t find anything related to inspection of underride guards in the past. Just thought I would check again.
There is something not right about this picture.
