Category Archives: Safety Advocacy

The AnnaLeah & Mary Memorial Facebook Page is now back up.

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy

I just received a pop-up message from Facebook telling me that my page is now published. This is what it said:

Page Published
After reviewing your appeal, your Page In Memory of AnnaLeah 1995 to 2013 and Mary Lydia Karth 1999 to 2013 has been published. This means it can now be viewed publicly.
No further explanation was given.

Russell Mokhibar, Corporate Crime Reporter, told me, “I sent their press office a query yesterday, they didn’t get back to me.”

I am thankful that it is back up. But I still feel rather vulnerable.

Now I can get back to getting ready to take almost 20,000 Vision Zero Petitions to Washington on Friday.

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

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

Signer #19,726 commented on our Vision Zero Petition

Safety Advocacy, ,

I just checked the petition site and saw that we are at 19,726. Most recent person to sign added this comment:

Make USA safer, please. My girlfriend in USA got involved in a crash and it was just luck that saved her. She is worth more than any cost to me. Cost of a life is priceless. Please see the emotional side of all the world, please.

Vision Zero Petition Book Cover

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Byron Bloch on Auto Safety, Federal Pre-Emption & Vision Zero, Corporate Crime Reporter, Jan. 2011

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, ,

I was interviewed yesterday by Russell Mokhiber, editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter. He just shared this 2011 article with me:

Byron Bloch on Auto Safety, Federal Pre-Emption and Vision Zero 25 Corporate Crime Reporter 3, January 17, 2011

Here is an excerpt from that article:

The case focuses on a federal rule that allows auto makers to use a seat belt only – without a shoulder belt – on seats next to an aisle in the middle row of a minivan.

In the case in question, the passenger in that middle row seat next to the aisle was killed when the Mazda minivan she was riding in was involved in a head on collision. She was wearing the only belt available – the seat belt – and she jack-knifed – causing fatal internal injuries.

Mazda argued that the federal rule allowing it to put only a seat belt on that middle row seat – without a shoulder belt – pre-empts state common law.

The appellate court agreed with Mazda and the plaintiff appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Auto safety expert Byron Bloch was at the Supreme Court when the justices heard the oral argument in the case last November.

He’s not optimistic about the outcome.

“Chief Justice Roberts focused on various of the economic factors,” Bloch said in an interview with Corporate Crime Reporter last week. “He thought that was an important consideration. Having a shoulder belt might cost Mazda more money. And shouldn’t Mazda be allowed to make economic decisions with regard to these various safety devices in a vehicle?”

Very interesting. Safety vs Profit.

Safety is not a priority 002

Safety: I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Our Facebook Memorial Page was UNPUBLISHED due to supposed violation. ?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, ,

Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy Help us take 20,000 signatures to Washington on March 4. Less than 300 to go!

The AnnaLeah & Mary Memorial Facebook Page got Unpublished last night because someone flagged it for inappropriate content due to Community Guidelines. I had just posted this same call to action–only with a crash scene photo which I have posted countless times before.

See our Facebook Memorial Page here: In Memory of AnnaLeah 1995 to 2013 and Mary Lydia Karth 1999 to 2013

I had published the exact same post on our other Facebook site: AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety.

There was no explanation of what post was “reported” or what the supposed violation consisted of and no way to ask any questions for clarification. Just a button to click: APPEAL.

This is what the Facebook Notification message said:

 Your page has been unpublished
Your Page is currently not visible on Facebook. It looks like content posted on your Page doesn’t follow the Facebook Terms and Community Standards, so your Page was unpublished. These Terms and Standards help ensure Facebook remains a welcoming, respectful environment.
We work hard to prevent actions that compromise people’s privacy or security on Facebook, including contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.
If you think your Page was unpublished in error, you can appeal. Before you appeal, we suggest removing any violating content from your Page. Please keep in mind that if your appeal is denied, your Page will be permanently deleted.
You appealed this decision Yesterday at 11:44pm

Facebook Community Guidelines: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards

I’m waiting to hear if my Appeal will overturn that decision. Please pray that it get resolved quickly so that I will be able to post updates on that page when we take the Petition to Washington on March 4.

And, because they say that the Page could be permanently deleted, I am concerned that we could lose the countless posts full of photos and memories of AnnaLeah & Mary which I listed here: Journey Through Grief.

Meanwhile, please share this post and sign our Vision Zero Petition if you have not already done so. In memory of Mary & AnnaLeah. Thank you: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/save-lives-not-dollars-ur…/

Speak out for AnnaLeah & Mary

300 signatures away from taking 20,000 to Washington. Who’s counting? (Yours truly, apparently!)

Safety Advocacy

Vision Zero Petition screenshot 004

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

“U.S. can do better than simply adopt Canada’s rear underride guard standard” IIHS Status Report

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

The Insurance Institute on Highway Safety issued their latest Status Report last week, including the article, “U.S. can do better than simply adopt Canada’s rear underride guard standard.”

A proposed upgrade to rear underride guard regulations for tractor-trailers is a move in the right direction but isn’t comprehensive enough to deliver the safety gains IIHS outlined in a 2011 petition for rulemaking, especially when it comes to preventing underride in offset crashes. . .

Thank you, IIHS, for your ongoing involvement in underride protection.

Trip North May 2015 153

Less than 400 signatures needed to reach 20,000 on our Vision Zero Petition. Washington: March 4

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy Help us take 20,000 signatures to Washington on March 4. Less than 400 to go!

The AnnaLeah & Mary Memorial Facebook Page got Unpublished last night because someone flagged it for inappropriate content due to Community Guidelines. I had just posted this same call to action–only with a crash scene photo which I have posted countless times before.

No explanation of what post or what the supposed violation consisted of and no way to ask any questions for clarification. Just a button to click: APPEAL.

This is what the Facebook Notification message said:

 Your page has been unpublished
Your Page is currently not visible on Facebook. It looks like content posted on your Page doesn’t follow the Facebook Terms and Community Standards, so your Page was unpublished. These Terms and Standards help ensure Facebook remains a welcoming, respectful environment.
We work hard to prevent actions that compromise people’s privacy or security on Facebook, including contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.
If you think your Page was unpublished in error, you can appeal. Before you appeal, we suggest removing any violating content from your Page. Please keep in mind that if your appeal is denied, your Page will be permanently deleted.
You appealed this decision Yesterday at 11:44pm

Facebook Community Guidelines: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards

I’m waiting to hear if my Appeal will overturn that decision. Please pray that it get resolved quickly so that I will be able to post updates on that page when we take the Petition to Washington on March 4.

Meanwhile, please share this post and sign our Vision Zero Petition if you have not already done so. In memory of Mary & AnnaLeah. Thank you: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/save-lives-not-dollars-ur…/

Speak out for AnnaLeah & Mary

 

Innovation to Make Highway Work Zones Safer

Safety Advocacy

RoadQuake 2™ Temporary Portable Rumble Strip: Road Safety Reinvented!

 

RoadQuake 2 Alerts Drivers to Changing Road Conditions

Where daily installation and removal of the work zone is required for:

  • Pilot car or flagging operations
  • Lane closures
  • Traffic safety check-points
  • Routine maintenance projects
  • Paving operations

For speed limits of 75 mph or less, and temperatures from 0° to 180° F.

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The best kind of preparation for going to Washington to speak up for vulnerable road users. . .

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

I have heard this encouragement four different times now this week, through different means: Be strong and courageous.

I needed to hear that. Especially because I have had some hard days of missing AnnaLeah and Mary, at the same time that the task feels overwhelming.

One of the times was just tonight when I searched for a facebook post with a photo of a drawing which Isaac made of Mary at Lake Michigan. I haven’t found it yet. But I did serendipitously find some good treasures recorded in our Journey through Grief Page. They were the best kind of encouragement as we prepare to go to Washington next week.

September 14, 2013:

September 13, 2013:

Here am I, send me!  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.511293028953216.1073741899.464993830249803&type=1

September 20, 2013:

My what a lot we have learned since then!

September 30, 2013:

October 3, 2013:

April 16, 2014:

8 Picture 657

 

Importance of uniform legislative standards in reducing accidents cannot be overestimated, July 31, 1934

Safety Advocacy, ,

I can’t get this out of my head: why are we waiting for states to adopt their own traffic safety standards instead of establishing National Traffic Safety Standards which states are required to adopt? What is this–the Wild, Wild West? We are the united states of America–are we not?

Why on earth don’t we establish National Traffic Safety Standards & require them to be adopted by States? (Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety held a press conference which I watched live-stream. They released their 13th Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws–outlining the 319 proven safety laws which many states have not adopted, including such things as seat belt usage, motorcycle helmet laws, impaired driving, child passenger safety, teen graduated licensing laws, and distracted driving.)

Should not proven safety standards be applied universally?

Note this statement from the 1934 National Conference on Highway Safety:

The importance of uniform legislative standards in reducing accidents and facilitating the movement of traffic cannot be over estimated, and the adoption of these standards by all States and municipalities is earnestly recommended.

Daniel C. Roper, Secretary of Commerce, Chairman, National Conference on Highway Safety, Washington, DC, July 31, 1934  ACT III – UNIFORM MOTOR VEHICLE CIVIL LIABILITY ACT

Later, Uniform Gudelines for State Highway Safety Programs were released by NHTSA. Where are we with that? Have we moved away from mandating states to adopt specific traffic safety standards? Is it optional? What is working and what is not working at this point?

National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Highway Safety Program Guidelines:
Section 402 of title 23 of the United States Code requires the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate uniform guidelines for State highway safety programs. These guidelines offer direction to States in formulating their highway safety plans for highway safety efforts that are supported with section 402 and other grant funds. The guidelines provide a framework for developing a balanced highway safety program and serve as a tool with which States can assess the effectiveness of their own programs. NHTSA encourages States to use these guidelines and build upon them to optimize the effectiveness of highway safety programs conducted at the State and local levels.

  1. Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection
  2. Motor Vehicle Registration
  3. Motorcycle Safety | PDF version for print
  4. Driver Education
  5. Non-Commercial Driver Licensing
  6. Codes and Laws
  7. Judicial and Court Services
  8. Impaired Driving (updated)| PDF version for print
  9. [Reserved]
  10. Traffic Records
  11. Emergency Medical Services
  12. Prosecutor Training
  13. Older Driver Safety
  14. Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety(updated) | PDF version for print
  15. Traffic Enforcement Service (updated) | PDF version for print
  16. Management of Highway Incidents
  17. Pupil Transportation Safety
  18. Crash Investigation and Incident Reporting
  19. Speed Management(updated) | PDF version for print
  20. Occupant Protection(updated) | PDF version for print
  21. Roadway Safety

Is this still operative today?  If so, why are there 319 traffic safety laws which have not been adopted by states? Is it the duty of the federal government to protect its citizens from crash deaths & serious injuries?

NOTE the connection with federal funds to states: 

(2)Waiver.—

The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph (1)(C), in whole or in part, for a fiscal year for any State whenever the Secretary determines that there is an insufficient number of local highway safety programs to justify the expenditure in the State of such percentage of Federal funds during the fiscal year.

(c)Use of Funds.—

(1)In general.—

Funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section shall be used to aid the States to conduct the highway safety programs approved in accordance with subsection (a), including development and implementation of manpower training programs, and of demonstration programs that the Secretary determines will contribute directly to the reduction of accidents, and deaths and injuries resulting therefrom. Title 23 › Chapter 4 › § 402 23 U.S. Code § 402 – Highway safety programs

Major Highway Safety Legislation Affecting Public Health

 

Delayed adoption and implementation of proven safety standards inevitably results in unnecessary, preventable deaths.

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