The goal to reduce crash deaths is far too complex to keep approaching it merely with a disjointed strategy.
What will it take to make a significant reduction in the number of people who die on our roads?
Category Archives: Safety Advocacy
The future of robotics and automated vehicles
Two books recommended by Tom Gage, Marconi Pacific, related to the future of robotics and automated vehicles:
and
The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
Tom Gage is speaking at the Driver Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety Conference (March 11):
NHTSA Driver Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety Conference wraps up today. Live streaming NOW
See the second day of this conference here:
Tapes might be available this afternoon.
Yesterday can be seen here:
Vision Zero Petition Book with 20,000+ signatures now posted on Federal Register for Underride Rule
The call for Vision Zero nationally and specifically to be applied to DOT Rulemaking Policy for Underride Regulations as well as countless other traffic safety measures is now posted on the Federal Register: NPRM Upgrade Underide: Vision Zero Book by Marianne Karth for President Obama
What will it take to make a significant reduction in the number of people who die on our roads?
Today, I watched some of the live streaming of NHTSA’s conference, Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety. As I listened to the various speakers and panel discussions, many thoughts and questions went through my mind. . .
Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety Conference being Livestreamed at DOT
The basic question is: What will it take to make a significant reduction in the number of people who die on our roads?
- It will take all of us working together.
- It will take facing the problem head on.
- It will take acknowledging that there is a problem–and the full extent of it.
- It will take recognizing that we are all a part of the problem.
- It will take talking about it openly.
- It will take understanding that crash deaths are not just an expected risk of driving on the road but are to a great extent preventable.
- It will take accepting that risky driver behavior is not a personal right but a violation of other people’s right to be protected from reckless behavior.
- It will take calling risky driver behavior what it is: RECKLESS.
- It will take classifying a vehicle as a weapon and reckless driver behavior as an act of violence.
- It will take enacting laws that prohibit a full range of reckless driving behaviors and then enforcing those laws with stiff consequences.
- It will take understanding that changing personal behavior is not the only way to reduce crash deaths and learning how to work with others who are addressing vehicle and environment risk factors.
- It will take recognizing and embracing that preventing crashes from happening is not the only thing which needs to be addressed but that we can also reduce the severity of those crashes so that death is not the end result.
- It will take manufacturers and employers and consumers and law enforcement and engineers and countless others to recognize how their individual decisions and actions contribute to not just crash statistics but to the unnatural ending (or saving) of life for people with names and faces and hopes and dreams and other people who care about them whose lives will be changed forever.
- And it will take us all realizing that someday soon one of those names and faces could very well be ourselves or someone whom we love and will miss dreadfully. And that it could have been prevented.
- 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. Bringing healing and hope that their frustrations and anger and grief are being heard and that their petitions for change are being taken seriously. Giving them a voice and channeling their zealous energy in positive ways which can in fact be a powerful tool for changing the future and moving us more surely Toward Zero Crash Deaths, Serious Injuries, and Fear of Traffic.
- And beyond that, 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.
I kept writing down ideas as they came to me during the various presentations and discussions and emailing them to the event coordinator. I did not hear my questions being addressed. But I am going to record them (in their raw intensity) here:
After losing my 2 youngest daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), due to a truck underride crash on May 4, 2013, I have been calling for a National Vision Zero Goal (along with over 20,000 Vision Zero Petition Signers):
I am asking President Obama to:
- Set a National Vision Zero Goal (it is not listed as an issue on whitehouse.gov)
- Establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force
- Sign a Vision Zero Executive Order to authorize Vision Zero Rulemaking Policies
These are the questions which I have been sending to the event coordinator today:
- What are you doing to address the reality (which I learned in 1979 at the University of Michigan/School of Public Health,Health Behavior/Health Education) that fear is not always the best motivator? The attitude that “it will never happen to me”?
- Will the addition of more and more technology for collision avoidance give people the false idea that they don’t have to pay as much attention, i.e., counteract attempts to focus on driver behavior?
- How many lives would be saved if the 319 proven safety standards/laws which are not being adopted by states were mandated? http://annaleahmary.
com/2016/01/why-on-earth-dont- we-establish-national-traffic- safety-standards-require-them- to-be-adopted-by-states/ - Drunk driving is one thing. What about stopping people for texting or using their cell phones while driving?
- What about drowsy driving? Are there ways for it to become something which can be included in traffic enforcement? DWF Driving While Fatigued.
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What about DRIVING IMPAIRED BY MARIJUANA? https://annaleahmary.com/2015/
02/marijuana-impairs-judgment- reaction-times-awareness/ -
How about an equivalent of Volunteer Firefighters? Can we train and deputize citizens to pull over unsafe drivers?
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For motor vehicle-related injury prevention. What about Second Collision problems? Like auto safety defects or truck UNDERRIDE deaths and serious injuries? Is the Task Force addressing this? What role could they play to prevent these preventable deaths?
- Not only does traffic safety involve the driver, vehicles, and environmental factors, but it does so in three phases–pre-event, event, and post event. Every one of these factors can be addressed to prevent or reduce the severity of the event. Remember Dr. Haddon’s matrix which Adrian Lund (IIHS) shared (similar to this one, Haddon Matrix) (also, see Care for Crash Victims):
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How about requiring driver training programs to set up volunteer coaches or mentors for drivers with permits to aid parents in this vital life skill development?
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How about change DMV written tests for driver license and renewal? Ours in NC was FULL of numbers and statistics regarding DUI consequences . How about make it more graphic and stick-in-the mind friendly? I spent my time preparing for it by memorizing numbers.
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Take a tip from 1954 and Jimmy Stewart. Start training at elementary level only update it to use the technology that the youngest generation is immersed in: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Uj9Iuxw2_wk How about design electronic games to raise awareness and teach safe driving behavior? -
How about clear up the confusion about whether Marijuana IMPAIRS driving?
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How can we find ways to remind people that driving choices can lead to forever results? Find ways to touch not only the head but the heart.
Never Come Back Once a lovedone becomes a motor vehicle crash statistic, it will be too late–they will
not come back to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8lDg8kyyYw Towards Zero; There’s no one someone won’t miss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsyvrkEjoXI -
How about using interactive learning methods of raising awareness?
When I interviewed my 9 and 6 year-old grandchildren about how they thought underride guards could be stronger, they showed amazing awareness and creativity.Put people in situations where they are faced with thinking through the results of driving choices and also purchase of safe equipment and increase their demand for affordable safer vehicles from the automotive industry.In group settings. In game apps. Make use of church youth groups to address these issues. -
REQUIRE phone manufacturers to advertise safe driving behavior
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Why not set a National Vision Zero Goal to raise American awareness?
People need to know that Death by Motor Vehicle is a preventable problem but it will take us all to work together to defeat it.They should be just as concerned, if not more, about the Violent Weapon of Destruction that is put into the hands of drivers everywhere 24/7. -
What about the use of more electronic road signs to alert drivers to upcoming traffic situations? And more things like rumble strips?
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People need to know that they are not in control so that their driving behavior reflects that knowledge.
Use Cass Sunstein’s idea for example for phone usage. Default Setting. Turned off when in a moving vehicle. Not sure if that is technologically possible but something like that.Default RULE/traffic law. If caught texting or talking on cell phone while driving, get a point on record.Set up a Consequence. Have their TICKET posted on social media.Loss of Reputation/Respect.ILLUSION OF CONTROL -
Make salient and visible How can we give visibility nationally and locally the extent of the Traffic Safety Problem?
- Electronic signs on highway to alert drivers to traffic conditions
- Choice architecture: use existing social groups to create localized indication of traffic safety norms, church youth groups, MOPS groups, Preschool parent groups LET them hear from families of crash victims. Give these people visibility.
- Savings of not losing a loved one: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=bsyvrkEjoXI - Can we get TRAFFIC SAFETY as an issue on whitehouse.gov?
- Can we get President Obama to set a Vision Zero Goal, establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force which would include an interdisciplinary group, and sign a Vision Zero Executive Order?
- Have we made Vision Zero a National Priority? http://annaleahmary.
com/2016/03/tell-obama-you- are-standing-with-us-in-this- family-continues-fight-for- trucking-safety/ - Why not set up Community Vision Zero Activist Groups?
- Are there strategies raising awareness about MICROSLEEP?
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MAKE IT A NATIONAL Vision Zero Goal!!!! Apply the resources.
- Put a face to the problem!!!!! Let the victims and their families be honored and remembered on a regular basis. We are ALL vulnerable.
Create a National Vision Zero Goal using social media and modern technology.I know someone who could design immersive reality simulation models to show immediate negative consequences of reckless driver behavior choices (as suggested by Dr. David Abrams).
- Could this group of people gathered together in Washington at this conference please, please, please call upon President Obama to set a National Vision Zero Goal, establish a Vision Zero Task Force, and sign a Vision Zero Executive Order? If he does not do those things, who else will lead us in such a United Effort? Without such a vision, the people will indeed perish.
Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety Conference being Livestreamed at DOT #VisionZero
Thursday and Friday, March 10 & 11
Thank you for your interest in the Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety conference that is taking place Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11 in Washington. The event will run from 8:30 – 4:30 on Thursday and from 8:30 – Noon on Friday.
NHTSA will be streaming this event live at http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/symposiums/index.html. The link within that page for the webcast should be live this afternoon.
You may access the agenda by following this link: http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/symposiums/march2016/index.html
Please share these links with any of your colleagues who might be interested in watching this event. Thank you,
Vision Zero will not undo the past, but it can shape the future.
Last night, I was sewing a row of quilt squares while watching some television with the family. I am thankful that I have this means of cathartic grieving. But, I have to say, it caused an ache deep within to touch those familiar pieces of some of their favorite clothes.
Vision Zero will not undo the past, but it can shape the future.
Mary’s Confirmation Questioning on April 28, 2013–Six days before the crash, on May 4, 2013, which ended their lives.
Warning is only the tip of the iceberg: CAS petitions NHTSA to warn parents of back seat dangers
Children vulnerable while in back seats Center for Auto Safety asks NHTSA to issue Warning to Parents: Center for Auto Safety Rear Seat Petition
We request that the agency modify its child seating recommendations by adding the following or similar warning language and that such language be required in Owner’s Manuals under 49 CFR § 571.208 S4.5.1(f):
If Possible, Children Should Be Placed In Rear Seating Positions Behind Unoccupied Front Seats. In Rear-End Crashes, the Backs of Occupied Front Seats Are Prone To Collapse Under the Weight of Their Occupants. If This Occurs, the Seat Backs and Their Occupants Can Strike Children in Rear Seats and Cause Severe or Fatal Injuries
Until cars on the American highway are equipped with adequately strong front seats and seatbacks, children in rear seats behind occupied front seats will continue to be in danger of death or severe injury from front seatback failures in rear-end impacts. For this reason the Center for Auto Safety today petitions for action by the agency to warn parents of this danger and how to avoid it when possible. Separately, the Center is filing a detailed analysis of police reports and lawsuits that shows the dangers of seat back collapse are far greater than what the agency recognizes because seat back collapse is not captured by the FARS database on which the agency has relied for all too long to deny there is a seatback collapse danger.
This is admittedly an interim measure which is made necessary by the continued absence of a federal motor vehicle safety standard requiring that cars be equipped with adequately protective front seats, but it is essential. The agency can take most of the requested steps on its own, without time-consuming rulemaking, and should do so promptly.
Sincerely,
Clarence M. Ditlow Executive Director
cc: Secretary of Transportation
As a mom of nine children (although they are now all adults), this is of great concern to me on behalf of those who don’t have an option of picking a “safer” spot to seat their young children. This warning is not enough; lives are at stake!
Another case of the need for presidential Vision Zero action to end unconscionable, unimaginable, and unethical delays in implementing traffic safety measures!
Tell Obama you are standing with us in this: “Family Continues Fight for Trucking Safety”
NHTSA livestreaming Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety conference, March 10 & 11
When I found out that NHTSA was holding a Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety conference, I asked if they were going to be livestreaming this important event. The event coordinator said they would be and that she would let me know details when they were available.
Here is that information:
Thank you for your interest in the Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety conference that is taking place Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11 in Washington. The event will run from 8:30 – 4:30 on Thursday and from 8:30 – Noon on Friday.
NHTSA will be streaming this event live at http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/symposiums/index.html. The link within that page for the webcast should be live this afternoon.
You may access the agenda by following this link: http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/symposiums/march2016/index.html
Please share these links with any of your colleagues who might be interested in watching this event. Thank you.
I also asked if it would be taped and made available online. Here is the answer: The plan is for them to be recorded and posted after the event. Our technical team tells me that they should be up Friday afternoon at the latest.
Here is a pdf of the agenda: Driving Behavioral Change in Traffic Safety Conference Agenda
I posted previously on this event/topic: https://annaleahmary.com/2016/02/nhtsa-hosting-discussion-of-the-behavioral-changes-necessary-to-achieve-near-zero-traffic-safety-deaths/
I hope that, in addition to looking at how to change personal driving behaviors, other factors which impact individual driving behaviors will be kept in mind as well.
- For example, an obvious one is what leads truck drivers to drive even when they are tired. https://annaleahmary.com/
tag/truck-driver-compensation/ - Also, technological aids such as alerting drivers to driver fatigue or getting phone manufacturers to build in features that make it simple to turn off when driving, etc. https://annaleahmary.com/
tag/distracted-driving/ - And things like addressing the notion that it is okay to drive while under the influence of marijuana. http://
annaleahmary.com/2015/02/ marijuana-impairs-judgment- reaction-times-awareness/ - Or a national awareness campaign to educate people about the dangers of microsleep. http://
americansleepandbreathingacade my.com/the-dots-war-on-drowsy- driving/ - Or more things like rumble strips along the side of the road.
- Or more electronic traffic signs which alert drivers to slowed traffic ahead. https://annaleahmary.com/
2016/02/can-electronic-road- signs-save-lives-crash-ahead- 7-miles-stay-alert/
Having studied Health Behavior & Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (and raised 9 children), I am well aware that simple awareness is not enough to change behavior.
I would also like to see proven safety measures more quickly adopted nationwide: 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?
Crash Fatality Causes & Solutions: Not Either/Or, but Both/And
When we met with DOT policy officials on March 4, we found that we were in agreement on a very important perspective regarding crash fatality causes and solutions: What we need to be addressing is not one thing or another, e.g., improve underride guards OR develop crash avoidance technology. No, no, no. It is not a case of either/or. It is definitely both/and!
Our crash was not an accident and many factors were involved in what came about that day. They all need to be addressed.
My heart is broken and anything less than genuine pursuit of every avenue for safety advancement only serves to deepen the pain.
AnnaLeah, Mary, Marcus, and Vanessa, Spring 2012, Grafa Park, Midland, Texas
Weeping Willow Memories: Mary and AnnaLeah enjoyed a spring-like day in the winter of 2009 at Grafa Park in Midland, Texas. The branches of a weeping willow tree became the setting for the unleashing of their imagination. (Preserved for us by their sister, Susanna Karth)
