Considering the constant fatalities, rampant pollution, and exorbitant costs of ownership, there is no better word to characterize the car’s dominance than insane.
. . . cars’ most dramatic cost: They waste lives. They are one of America’s leading causes of avoidable injury and death, especially among the young. Oddly, the most immediately devastating consequence of the modern car—the carnage it leaves in its wake—seems to generate the least public outcry and attention. Jim McNamara, a sergeant with the California Highway Patrol, where officers spend 80 percent of their time responding to car wrecks, believes such public inattention and apathy arise whenever a problem is “massive but diffuse.”
This sounds like a great conference put on by the Center for Study of Responsive Law with Ralph Nader. Wish I could go:
“The theme of this citizen mobilization will be elaborating ways to break through power to secure long-overdue democratic solutions made possible by a new muscular civic nexus between local communities and Washington, D.C. On these four days, speakers will present innovative ideas and strategies designed to take existing civic groups to higher levels of effectiveness.”
On May 5, 2016, over 65 representatives from the trucking industry, government, safety advocates, engineers, crash reconstructionists, attorneys, and media will be on hand at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center to discuss and demonstrate truck underride crashes.
In addition, the Underride Roundtable, which will be taking place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will be available to watch via livestreaming–with viewer interaction anticipated. The webcast link will be provided here when it is available.
In order to prepare for that, I am going to highlight some past and current underride research papers and efforts here. It will, of course, not cover everything and others are welcome to send additional information my way, which I would be more than happy to add to the list.
Although most of the research below will not appear as a presentation on the agenda, I am hopeful that the information will be considered by all as recommendations for underride protection are discussed and proposed.
I had actually wanted to put together a packet of this kind of information to hand out to participants. Then I thought that it might be more useful to provide it to a wider audience by posting it on our website. So here it is.
In addition, I have prepared a feedback form to enable you to let me know what you think should be done about truck underride protection. I am hoping to get a good response and will compile any results which I receive before the Underride Roundtable, as well as after the event.
Although I don’t know all the names and details, I imagine that there are countless individuals and organizations who have contributed, over a span of many years, to the discussion and development of underride protection. I am thankful that we can build upon that foundation.
Here is some of the research which I have come across in my search for the best possible protection.
And last, but not least, out of the mouths of babes. . .
NOTE: I will likely be updating this post as we get closer to the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016! And, of course, I can hardly wait to post the results of the Roundtable itself!
In memory of AnnaLeah & Mary, Precious Ones whose lives were cut far too short.
“Given that Australia has adopted a ‘Vision Zero’ road safety philosophy and the ‘Safe System Approach’ road safety strategy, all such foreseen fatalities need to be addressed if a design countermeasure can be implemented.
“The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has also identified that the truck underrun fatalities and serious injuries are occurring as a result of inadequate truck underrun barriers and the lack of a crash performance test standard (IIHS 2014). They have rated a number of underrun barriers using a performance crash test protocol they recently developed.”
Clearly, they get it: if a fatality is predictable, and a solution exists which could prevent it, then it should be implemented!
No matter who causes a truck crash, the victims pay the price. This country needs to understand that there is a better way to resolve traffic safety problems than through a political tug-of-war!
After my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), were killed in a truck crash almost three years ago on May 4, 2013, I have had my eyes opened and would like others to listen to what I have to say.
We can do better than continue to put our heads in the sand and think that these horrific, preventable, tragic deaths will go away by handling these problems the same old way.
If you could walk in my shoes (and those of the hundreds of thousands of other Americans who have lost loved ones this way) and bear the unnecessary grief on a daily basis, then you might be able to understand the frustration of knowing that something better could be done about this–but ISN’T.
Are you listening, Congress, everyone involved in the trucking industry and traffic safety advocacy, and especially, right now, President Obama?!
Yesterday, I received good news on underride rulemaking from the Australian front. George Rechnitzer and Raphael Grzebieta were able to impact Standards Australia to issue a proposed rear underride rule which will be much stronger than their current rule (and than U.S. underride rules) and which will require a crash test.
The following is the letter which I received from Raphael Grzebieta, as well as the letter which he received from Standards Australia:
Hi Marianne,
Great news! Our Australian/New Zealand National Standard is now out for public comment before it is ratified as a standard for regulators (DOTs) and others in Australia and New Zealand.
We will be the first kids on the planet releasing such a standard that demands a crash test for an underrun barrier fixed to the rear of a heavy truck.
It has taken more than a quarter of a century (and many horrific deaths) but George and I have finally done it at last. We got it into the Standard.
There was some resistance by one of the DOTs but after some strong persuasion (by me and other DOTs, particularly NZ) at a couple of key Standards Committee meetings, all DOTs are on board with it now.
See attached – Section 7 and Appendix G.
Any one of you (and others – please email it out) are of course most welcome to submit a comment to Standards Australia. Good comments I hope.
All the best.
Kind Regards
Raphael
Raphael Grzebieta PhD (Professor, Road Safety)
Australian Naturalistic Driver Study, Lead Chief Investigator
www.ands.unsw.edu.au The letter to Raphael from Standards Australia:
Dear Raphael Grzebieta,
Please note that the following draft is open for public comment:
Draft Number:
AS/NZS 3845.2
Title:
Roadside safety systems and devices – Temporary work sites, bollards, light poles and sign supports
Project Committee:
CE-033 Road Safety Barrier Systems
Public Comment Closing Date:
22/06/2016 23:59
You can view the draft and any incoming comments here after entering your Standards Hub login details.
All comments are to be submitted on the Standards Hub. Follow the link above, login and select the “New Comment” button.
If you have any queries regarding the submission of comments, please contact us on the details given below or contact the relevant Project Manager.
Standards Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, recognised
by the Australian Government as the peak non-government Standards body in Australia. Standards Australia develops internationally aligned Australian Standards® that deliver Net Benefit to Australia and is the Australian member of ISO and IEC,
Standards Australia is the Principal Sponsor of the Australian International Design Awards www.designawards.com.au
Marianne Karth asked NHTSA for information on Truck Underride Deaths.
NHTSA provided a revealing and disturbing set of data.
For twenty years about 4 people every average week an American motorist died of their injuries according to NHTSA’s FARS data. From 1994-2014 the total amounting to 5,081 deaths were recorded by NHTSA. See attached.
Year after tragic year the number has remained almost constant at more than 200 deaths each year.
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) have access to such data, so why don’t we see more stories? See DOT and NHTSA databases available at IRE at http://ire.org/nicar/database-library/
Let’s get the media focusing on our clear and present dangers here at home in the U.S.A. today.
Let’s get the media to produce change for the better with news we can use.
The Department of Transportation collects statistics from crash reports given to them by each state on fatalities each year. I requested a chart of those crash deaths related to truck underride since they began collecting that information.
Unfortunately, it does not contain a breakdown of rear vs side vs front collisions. Also, there is a column for Passenger “Compartment Intrusion Unknown.” Our crash was listed as this category in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). However, there clearly was intrusion into the passenger compartment where AnnaLeah and Mary were sitting.
It makes me wonder how many PCI crashes are underreported. These statistics are taken from the police crash reports and it would be helpful if all states were provided with, and required to use, a uniform report form in order to make reporting and research more efficient and effective.
