Category Archives: Safety Advocacy

“Safety Advocates Say Fatal Car Seat Failures Are ‘Public Health Crisis’” #VisionZero

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Safety advocates say automakers and regulators have acted with “criminal” negligence in failing to remedy a long-acknowledged auto safety flaw that watchdogs say has played a role in hundreds of deaths, creating a “public health crisis.”

At issue are car seats that malfunction and collapse backward when a car is rear-ended. The impact of the crash and collapsing seat can cripple or kill drivers, as well as passengers in the back seat, in many cases, children. . .

See the entire article and newscast here: Safety Advocates Say Fatal Car Seat Failures Are ‘Public Health Crisis’

In my opinion, a Vision Zero Executive Order, if signed by President Obama, could end the kind of Cost/Benefit Analysis which allows for the excuse that “not enough people die,” from an automotive defect, to justify taking action on deadly automotive defects. See why here:

Sign our Vision Zero Petition here: Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy

 

Truck Trailer Manufacturers Ass’n “Reminds” NHTSA: Side Guards Are “Not Cost-Effective” Says Who?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

Yesterday morning, I checked my email and saw that there was a new Public Comment posted on the Federal Register regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Underride Guards.

I quickly went to the site and saw that the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association had posted a comment (see their comments in the PDFs below). Apparently our Underride Roundtable two weeks ago at IIHS has spurred them to spell out the steps which have been taken over the years to squash side guards from being mandated and manufactured to prevent smaller passenger vehicles from riding under trucks upon collision with the side of the larger vehicle.

TTMA_Side_Impact_Main_Comment_2016-05-13

TTMA_Side_impact_Exhibits_A-D_2016-05-13

Their rationale: Cost/Benefit Analysis shows that adding side guard to trucks is “not cost-effective”.

“In its 1991 Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation of proposed guards for rear underride, NHTSA’s Plans and Policy Office of Regulatory Analysis stated: “Combination truck side underride counter-measures have been determined not to be cost-effective.” [Docket I-11; Notice 9; Comment 002, page 15 (emphasis added) {by TTMA}].”

Translate that:  Not enough people die from side underride crashes to justify the money it would take to add this safety feature. If this attitude and rulemaking policy is allowed to continue unabated, then innocent, unsuspecting travelers on our road will continue to experience preventable underride crashes and receive a Sentence of Death by Preventable Underride. And no one will be held responsible for that–not the trailer manufacturers, not the trucking companies, not the truck drivers (unless perhaps they were blamed for the collision itself), not the regulators, not the insurers; I repeat, no one!!! No one will be penalized for this despicable, unconscionable action–except, of course, the victims.

And, yes, TTMA is repeating the oft-heard industry argument that the solution is to concentrate on Crash Avoidance Technology instead–as if it were an either/or not a both/and question!

Mom Says $100 Truck Tweak Could Have Saved Her Daughters

Meanwhile, people will continue to needlessly die — like AnnaLeah and Mary — and people like me will undergo tremendously traumatic ongoing  grief multiplied exponentially by the anger and frustration of knowing that it might well have been prevented were it not for the endless opposition to implementing solutions which are readily available.

I helped roll up the side guard designed by Aaron Kiefer last month and it did not seem to weigh that much. I talked to Aaron yesterday and he estimates that his side guard, once in mass production, might weigh about 175 pounds. Currently, his  prototype, when combining the weight of it on both sides of the truck, weighs in at around 300 pounds. And what percentage of the total allowed 80,000 lbs. is that anyway? (.4%?)

And, by the way, look at this amazing crash test of Aaron’s side guard, which I witnessed in North Carolina less than a month ago (April 30, 2016):

Somebody, please get me an audience with President Obama. I need him to tell me to my face that it is not a matter of life & death for him to adopt a National Vision Zero Goal, to establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force, and to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order which will pave the way for Vision Zero Rulemaking at DOT.

Of course, what I would really like to have happen is to speak with the President, have him catch the vision and promise me that he will actually take those actions. Wouldn’t that be exciting!

However, if President Obama does nothing about the traffic safety travesty, TTMA has clearly shown us what to expect: Continued opposition and resistance to efforts to make trucks safer to drive around.

I truly hope that I am wrong and that the outcome of the Underride Roundtable will have made a huge difference in the future of underride protection. However, it appears that, if TTMA has anything to say about it, we should expect that any new underride rule issued will either be opposed or be unchanged and, therefore, weak and ineffective.  When it is Technologically Unnecessary for that to be so.

And then who will be ethically responsible for the continued carnage on the highways of this great country?! That’s what I want to know.

IMG_4465Vision Zero Petition screenshot 001

Underride Roundtable To Consider Underride Research From Around the Globe

Media Coverage of the first Truck Underride Roundtable held at IIHS on May 5, 2016

 

Strick to recall 2005-2009 van trailers for faulty rear impact guard. Discovered in 2014. Recall in 2016.

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,
5/13/2016

Strick Trailer is recalling certain single-axle 28-foot van trailers for a rear-impact guard issue, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration document.

More specifically, 2005-2009 van trailers manufactured July 25, 2004, to Feb. 3, 2009, and equipped with rear-impact guards using gussets 55997 and 55998 are affected. Gussets on affected trucks can increase the chances of injury during a crash, thereby violating Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 223, “Rear Impact Guards.”

In March 2014, Strick discovered that the gussets may not have been verified using prescribed test procedures, according to the NHTSA document. Tests conducted in April 2014 confirmed that the gussets violated FMVSS 223.

Owners will be notified by Strick to have reinforcements installed to the rear-impact guards at no cost. For more information, contact Strick’s customer service at 260-692-6121. The recall will begin on June 17.

– See more at: http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=31159#.VzsfwfkrK70

Okay, I am glad that this is being taken care of, but I only hope that it will be done thoroughly and completely and without delay. And, by the way, if the problem was discovered in March 2014, why is the recall only beginning on June 17, 2016? What took so long?

Trip North May 2015 031

Somebody, please get me an audience with President Obama to respond to my Vision Zero Petition!

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

As I was contemplating whether to go next week to Ralph Nader’s Breaking Through Power: A Historic Civic Mobilization, I checked my email and saw that there was a new Public Comment posted on the Federal Register regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Underride Guards.

I quickly went to the site and saw that the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association had posted a comment (see their comments in the PDFs below). Apparently our Underride Roundtable two weeks ago at IIHS has spurred them to spell out the steps which have been taken over the years to squash side underride guards from being mandated and manufactured.

TTMA_Side_impact_Exhibits_A-D_2016-05-13

TTMA_Side_Impact_Main_Comment_2016-05-13

The rationale: Cost/Benefit Analysis shows that adding side guard protection from underride of trucks by passenger vehicles is not cost-effective.

“In its 1991 Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation of proposed guards for rear underride, NHTSA’s Plans and Policy Office of Regulatory Analysis stated: “Combination truck side underride counter-measures have been determined not to be cost-effective.” [Docket I-11; Notice 9; Comment 002, page 15 (emphasis added) {by TTMA}].”

Translate that: If this attitude and rulemaking policy is allowed to continue unabated, then innocent, unsuspecting travelers on our road will continue to experience preventable underride crashes and receive a Sentence of Death by Preventable Underride. And no one will be held responsible for that!!!

And, yes, TTMA is repeating the oft-heard industry argument that the solution is to concentrate on Crash Avoidance Technology instead–as if it were an either/or not a both/and question!

Meanwhile, people will continue to needlessly die — like AnnaLeah and Mary — and people like me will undergo tremendously traumatic  grief multiplied exponentially by the anger and frustration of knowing that it might well have been prevented were it not for the endless opposition to implementing solutions which are readily available.

And, no, I cannot imagine that it would have to weigh the 750 pounds which they claim it will (which the NHTSA cost/benefit analysis is based upon, by the way). I helped roll up the side guard designed by Aaron Kiefer last month and it did not weigh that much. I just talked to Aaron and he estimates that his side guard, once in mass production, might weigh about 175 pounds. Currently, his  prototype, when combining the weight of it on both sides of the truck, weighs in at 204 pounds.

And, by the way, look at this crash test of Aaron’s side guard, which I witnessed in North Carolina less than a month ago:

Somebody, please get me an audience with President Obama next week (now I have to go to that conference). I need him to tell me to my face that it is not a matter of life & death for him to adopt a National Vision Zero Goal, to establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force, and to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order which will pave the way for Vision Zero Rulemaking at DOT.

Of course, what I would really like to have happen is to speak with him, have him catch the vision and promise me that he will actually take those actions. Wouldn’t that be exciting!

However, if President Obama does not do so, TTMA has clearly shown us that nothing will be any different and any new underride rule issued will likely continue to be weak and ineffective.  When it is Technologically Unnecessary for that to be so. And then who will be ethically responsible for the continued carnage on the highways of this great country?!

That’s what I want to know.

IMG_4465Vision Zero Petition screenshot 001

Underride Roundtable To Consider Underride Research From Around the Globe

Memorials to remember victims of our country’s traffic crash epidemic

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

People who die as a result of traffic crashes usually have no warning and, for the most part, were not doing something intentional to warrant such an untimely end.

Whatever the cause of their death, what is the best way to honor the memories of those hundreds of thousands of loved ones? One way is to share their stories and photos.  Another way is to work diligently in their memory to reduce crash deaths so that others do not have to suffer the same tragic end to their earthly life–and putting an end to this traffic crash epidemic.

Here is one Victim Memorial Page: Truck Crash Victim Memorials at Truck Safety Coalition

Here is an idea I had a while ago for making these stories more visible: Digital photo/video montage of the countless people who have had their lives cut short by a tragic crash.

What would you suggest? Email your ideas to me at marianne@annaleahmary.com.

PetitionHeader_option2Never forgotten

U.S.A. Crash Death Clock

Will we set a National #Vision Zero Goal? Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State 2015 Prelim. Data

Safety Advocacy,

Let’s work together as communities to reduce all kinds of crash deaths–including pedestrian traffic fatalities. Let’s create a network of Vision Zero Community Action Groups across this nation. With shared vision and resources.

Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State 2015 Preliminary Data

I firmly believe that, in order to move as a nation Toward a Vision of Zero Crash Deaths, it will take take a commitment to a National Vision Zero Goal and a coordinated endeavor of government, private industry, workers of every skill imaginable, and informed citizens. Anything short of this will be disjointed and less effective, which translates into — not simply unmet project goals but — people dying. It is not an impossible dream but it will require sacrifice and will be well worth the effort.

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

See what is being done in Bangladesh, through a community project, to reduce crash fatalities: Community project puts a dent in crash fatality numbers.

National Vision Zero Goal

 

Community project puts a dent in crash fatality numbers (Bangladesh)

Safety Advocacy,

Community involvement has helped to reduce crash deaths in Bangladesh. Could we learn something from their efforts?

Community project puts a dent in crash fatality numbers – See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/may/15/community-project-puts-dent-crash-fatality-numbers

What will it take to make a significant reduction in the number of people who die on our roads?

I firmly believe that, in order to move as a nation Toward a Vision of Zero Crash Deaths, it will take take a commitment to a National Vision Zero Goal and a coordinated endeavor of government, private industry, workers of every skill imaginable, and informed citizens. Anything short of this will be disjointed and less effective, which translates into — not simply unmet project goals but — people dying. It is not an impossible dream but it will require sacrifice and will be well worth the effort.

Among other things, I also believe that it will take listening to the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones due to traffic crashes and apologizing, as a society, for letting them down–for not addressing it as the priority it should be.

Bring a deeper measure of healing and hope by acknowledging their frustration and anger and grief. Let them know that they are being heard and that their petitions for change are being taken seriously.

Set a National Vision Zero Goal and then give these motivated people a voice. Launch a nation-wide network of Vision Zero Traffic Safety Community Action Groups which can channel their zealous energy in positive ways. In concert with a White House Vision Zero Task Force and a Cabinet which is authorized to conduct Vision Zero rulemaking, these groups could work at the local level as a powerful tool for changing the future and moving us more surely Toward Zero Crash Deaths, Serious Injuries, and Fear of Traffic.

Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America!  https://annaleahmary.com/2016/03/do-it-president-obama-for-we-the-people-of-this-united-states-of-america-visionzero/

Vision Zero Goal

 

Underride roundtable generates awareness (Rocky Mount Telegram)

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Ever since I received a phone call in May 2013 from Brie Handgraaf, a reporter with The Rocky Mount Telegram, she has been covering our story and caring about our family and our journey of safety advocacy.

Here Brie covers the Underride Roundtable: Underride roundtable generates awareness

Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 024 Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 032 Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 080Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 034

Additional media coverage of the Underride Roundtable:  Media Coverage of the first Truck Underride Roundtable held at IIHS on May 5, 2016

VA Tech Student Engineers Shine in Underride Roundtable Presentation

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

Almost a year ago, I was developing a couple of ideas: 1) an Underride Roundtable and a Student Underride Design Project. I was looking in my email archives tonight and found a June 24, 2015, email addressing those two projects. I realized then how much was accomplished in less than a year with the organizing of the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016, and the presentation by the Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Team at that event.

I have pasted that June 24, 2015, email at the end of this post.

See here how the Underride Roundtable idea became a reality:  https://annaleahmary.com/tag/underride-roundtable/

View the entire Underride Roundtable here in two archived webcast sessions, https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1100569, including:

See here how the Virginia Tech Student Underride Design Project became a reality: 
VA Tech guard installed VA Tech Team with installed guard on rig VA Tech Underride Sine BeamUnderride Roundtable May 5, 2016 093 Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 092 Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 089Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 105 Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 103Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 153Virginia Tech Student Underride Design Project Presentation
And now I would like to publicly thank the Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Dream Team. . .
Dear Wayne Carter, Daniel Carrasco, Andrew Pitt, Sean Gardner, Kristine Adriano. and Brian Smith,
     You did a fine thing by taking on the Underride Guard problem for your Senior Design Project. And then you did a fantastic job of working as a team to address the underride problem and come up with a really cool, outside-the-box design solution.
     I think that we were all impressed by your presentation at the Underride Roundtable. I hope that someone will make good use of your design work and use your ideas to create a safer guard. And I hope that what you have experienced this last year will continue to impact your ability to creatively engineer meaningful change.
    I know that AnnaLeah, who would have been about your age now (she would have turned 21 on May 15), would have been impressed. And Mary would have definitely thought it cool and awesome–what you all have done to make a difference!
     I was so glad to meet you at the Underride Roundtable at IIHS. I hope that you will keep track of the underride issue as you each go your separate ways upon graduation. And I hope to hear from you.
     I know that your Virginia Tech advisors, Jared Bryson and Robin Ott, are very proud of you. And I am thankful for their work in supporting you.
I will be forever grateful,
Marianne Karth
Picture 667Picture 275
Here’s the email which I mentioned from June 24, 2015, which got the ball rolling:

     I wanted to update you all on some things which have developed following our phone conversation.

     A year ago (June 2014), I became convinced that, if only engineers around the globe put their mind to it, better underride protection could be developed:
     Then, NHTSA issued the rulemaking:
     I continued to write on the topic and contact people about these ideas:
     Ted Scott, with ATA, responded positively to the idea of an Underride Roundtable, Jeff Plungis did an extensive article on underride: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-16/dead-girls-mom-says-100-truck-fix-may-have-saved-them.html.
     I began communicating with Mark Rosekind about the topic and John Lannen and I periodically discussed the possibilities.
     After we began the planning for an Underride Roundtable, I heard about Dean Sicking’s success in making NASCAR raceways safer with his SAFER BARRIER: http://www.uab.edu/sicking/dean-sicking . I contacted him and asked if he would be interested in participating in the Roundtable. He responded positively and, in fact, began describing how he thought that he could apply some things which he has learned and design a more effective underride prevention system. I continued corresponding with him and asked him to prepare a project proposal, including a budget.
     I have attached his proposal for your review. He cannot guarantee that it will work but is quite confident. It would take about $138,040 for his research team at UA-Birmingham to do the complete project including crash testing, with design & simulation about $61,048, and with design, simulation and building of the prototype about $88,000. IIHS has told me that if they thought the prototype showed promise, they could crash test it “on our dime.”  And Dean thinks that he could have the project completed in time to report on it at the Roundtable.
     Our family has just filed articles of incorporation to set up a non-profit, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, in order to be able to receive tax-deductible contributions for this project. We are making plans to raise funds–including letters to about 60 trucking companies and social media “crowd funding.”
     In addition, last week, I received an email from David Zuby at IIHS. He said that he had been thinking about the email which I sent out last winter about the idea of a college student competition for underride design. He had thought that it was a good idea at the time and had been talking with Bob Sechler at SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers). He said that Bob didn’t really think that it fit in with their usual projects but was willing to listen to the idea. I emailed Bob last week–who was out of town–and heard back from him yesterday afternoon. He is willing to have SAE (after approved by his committee) promote the idea of senior design project to the faculty and students in their contact list. He said that if they were to do a competition, then a reward would be appropriate and might take longer to get underway.
      Prior to speaking with him, on Monday morning, I had googled some terms when naming our non-profit and ran across Virginia Tech’s truck research activities. So I emailed Rich Hanowski there and he referred me to Jared Bryson, Senior Researcher Mechanical Systems Group Leader. I emailed Jared and he immediately had lots of ideas about it and said that if he contacted his department now and we could have a general plan by August 24, then he could pitch it as a topic for a student to select for the 2015/16 school year at Virginia Tech as a Senior Design Project. He said that April would be better as a time for the Roundtable if we wanted to be able to have the student present their paper at the Roundtable.
     Bob Sechler said that if we want him to promote the student design project (across the country) then we need to get him a proposal with background information and requirements. Jared had wondered if we want to do rear and side. I said rear this year because of the current rulemaking. There is always next year. He also wondered about whether to have them look at the side of the trailer behind the back axle.
     I had also emailed Ted Scott at ATA last week to let him know that we are working on the Roundtable and about the student competition idea. He suggested that I contact Brenda Lantz at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Research Institute. I spoke with her and she was going to be talking with her Transportation Board, Apparently, if they decided to do something like that, then they could widely advertise it. I still have not heard back from her on that.
This is what I need to know about how to proceed:
  1. I need help developing a proposal for the student design project–especially what we are asking them to build, project requirements.
  2. Would we like them to present their papers at the Roundtable?
  3. Can any money be provided to help them attend the Roundtable?
  4. Or would we put out a request for papers and select  1 or more for presentation (and pay for them to attend)?
  5. Is it crazy to have multiple organizations promoting the idea to students?
  6. Who should be the ones to judge the papers if we go that way?
  7. Could we somehow fund one or more to be developed into a prototype?
  8. Could we have someone like IIHS then crash test any prototypes?
  9. What are your thoughts on all of these possibilities?
      In addition, in my conversation with David Friedman, I came away with the impression that any research presented to NHTSA in the coming year would be seriously reviewed and could have impact on strengthening the rules if there is data and evidence to justify it–particularly if there is any kind of peer review and/or verification of the results, e.g., through crash testing by someone else like IIHS.
     Please get back to me as soon as possible on all of this. As Bob Sechler mentioned, we need to move quickly on this in order to catch the interest of engineering seniors. He suggested that we appeal to them by inviting them to work on a project which would be interesting, challenging, and valuable: they could make a difference.
Marianne

A grieving dad got the attention of the trucking industry & made a difference.

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

Rather than wait for a stronger underride rule to be proposed, Jerry Karth, in early 2014, determined to challenge the truck industry to voluntarily step up and strengthen underride protection on trucks.

He wrote letters, first of all, to the major trailer manufacturers — some of whom had been tested earlier by IIHS. He told them about our crash story — how AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13) through no fault of their own were killed by truck underride which might have been prevented if the truck they collided with had had better underride guards.

Then, soon after those letters were out the door, Jerry had several more lists of trucking companies, who either purchased or leased trailers. He proceeded to write letters to those companies — again telling them our crash story and making sure that they understood the inadequacy of guards designed to satisfy the current U.S. underride standard, or even the Canadian one for that matter.

Jerry asked them to look into the matter — even providing them with copies of the IIHS Status Reports which had articles on the underride issue. He asked them to make sure that they were getting their trailers from manufacturers which provided the best protection possible. He received letters, emails, and phone calls indicating that the companies were appreciative of the information provided to them.

Then, several months ago, Jerry got a call from Greer Woodruff, VP of Safety, Security, & Driver Personnel at J.B. Hunt a transport company. Greer was calling to tell Jerry that JB Hunt had purchased 4,000 new trailers in January 2016 from Wabash who had recently manufactured safer underride guards–having passed the IIHS 30% overlap crash test.

Underride Roundtable TimelineUnderride Roundtable May 5, 2016 141Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 169Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 007

See my posts with exciting developments on this front:

And later, during the afternoon panel discussion at the Underride Roundtable at IIHS on May 5, Jerry asked Mark Roush from Vanguard (a trailer manufacturer) what had motivated them to produce their recently-strengthened underride guards. This was what he found out:

“We had no idea if there would be a safety marketplace for large trucks when we began our crash tests,” Matthew Brumbelow, an IIHS senior research engineer who has extensively studied truck underride crashes, shared with the audience. “We at the Institute have been really encouraged by the response from trailer manufacturers.”

Mark Roush, vice president of engineering with Vanguard, participated in the afternoon panel discussion. Vanguard is one of the trailer manufacturers that voluntarily improved their underride guards. Roush credited IIHS research and the Karth family’s advocacy for raising awareness of the underride problem and ways to address it.

“As far as we knew we were producing trailers to what we thought was the highest regulatory standard, and then the IIHS test came in and made us aware of what was happening,” Roush said. “Three of our largest customers forwarded letters from you [Karth] asking us to do more.” The Karths personally wrote the largest trailer makers seeking their help in building better rear guards.

David Zuby, IIHS executive vice president and chief research officer, wrapped up the day with a call for continued cooperation and research.

“The one thing I hope everyone takes away from this is that there has been a lot of progress in recent years on underride crashes, and there will be more ahead. We heard from Virginia Tech students who are about to graduate and are already thinking about how to make underride guards better. And you heard from Matt Brumbelow about how guards are being designed to prevent types of underride crashes that weren’t addressed before. We are optimistic that we can solve this problem working together.” See more at: IIHS: Truck underride roundtable addresses problem of deadly crashes

It needs to be said, as I have stated before, that the positive progress made by the trailer manufacturers voluntarily — though it should be appreciated — should, nevertheless, not be allowed to stand as the end of the line. Unless they pass crash tests at higher speeds, the manufacturers need to get back to the drawing board and find ways to make their trucks safer all around (including on the sides and at the front) and at higher speeds.

And, unless trucks currently on the road are retrofitted and Single Unit Trucks become included in underride standards, way too many people will continue to die on our roads from preventable underride.

Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy ALMFTS facebook banner

I think that it would make Mary & AnnaLeah smile to think that their lives were the impetus for saving others from an untimely end and untold heartache.

Never forgotten

To read additional posts which I wrote as a follow-up to the Underride Roundtable, go here:  Underride Roundtable Follow-up Posts