Category Archives: Truck Safety

If the Side Underride Problem Makes You Mad, Here Are 5 Ways To Be A Part of the Solution

Truck Safety,

If you watch the Today Show’s investigative report on truck SIDE UNDERIDE, you will discover that the federal government does not require side guards on large trucks. And trailer manufacturers do not install them on the trailers they produce.

NBC News article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/side-underride-crashes-kill-200-people-year-will-congress-act-n711721

 That might make you a little bit mad, so here are 5 ways you can put that frustration to work to help bring about change:
 
+ Sign our Side Guard Petition here to let our government & trucking industry leaders know that you want them to act NOW to SAVE LIVES by putting side guards on large trucks. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/251/762/472/end-deadly-side-underride-crashes-mandate-side-guards-on-large-trucks/
 
+ Submit a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here. https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.
 
+ Write to the 8 major trailer manufacturers.Tell them that you want them to put side guards on the trailers which they produce and sell to trucking companies. You can find their contact information here. https://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Contact-Information-for-Major-Trailer-Manufacturers-1.pdf
 
+ Support side guard research projects, which will help get affordable and effective side guards on the market. Donate here. https://www.fortrucksafety.com/
 
+ Contact your legislators here. https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

February 13, 2017 Update: I just received a notification of a new posting to the Federal Register of a Public Comment from someone asking DOT/NHTSA to mandate side guards! I am assuming that someone responded to my request for people to do so to help bring about change. 🙂

See it here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0049 Actually, a second person also submitted a comment.

You can do it, too! SUBMIT a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.

What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?

Truck Safety, , , , ,

Yesterday, Ronan Farrow reported that members of of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee received $9,187,124 in campaign contributions in the 2016 cycle from the Transportation Sector.

See it for yourself here:

Ronan asked, “Why does it take so long to move the needle on this, when people are dying every year?” See what former head of NHTSA, Joan Claybrook, had to say about that:

What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?

How much closer would we be to Zero Truck Crash Fatalities?

The trucking industry needs to answer the same question which Senator Robert Kennedy posed to GM in 1965. I’d like to ask them,

  • “What was your profit in 2016?”
  • “And how much money did you spend on safety research in 2016?”

I’d really like to know the answers — not just for 2016 but for many years before as well. Because I’m not willing to compromise. There are too many shattered families, broken hearts, and lives ended far too soon.

Sign the Petition: End Deadly Truck Side Underride Crashes: Mandate Side Guards

Then, SHARE it.

Find out how you can DONATE to Underride Research HERE. Make a difference

Today Show’s Investigation Of Deadly Truck Underride Generates Long-Overdue Nat’l Conversation

Truck Safety,

Ronan Farrow started a national conversation this morning about deadly truck side underride with his investigative report on The Today Show:

And here’s the NBC News article from that report: Side Underride Crashes Kill 200 People a Year. Will Congress Act?, by RONAN FARROW, RICH MCHUGH and TRACY CONNOR, 2/7/17

That got the ball rolling. Here are some other mentions of that investigation:

  1. Huffington Post: Remember That Fatal Tesla Crash? Politicians Might Be Partly To Blame.
  2. The Hill: Report: Trucking lobby resisting mandatory safety devices

Join the conversation. Let your voice be heard. Sign the Side Guard Petition: End Deadly Truck Side Underride Crashes: Mandate Side Guards

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Side Underride Problem & Solutions Featured on The Today Show

Truck Safety, ,

Ronan Farrow investigated the side underride problem and here is his report on The Today Show, February 7, 2017:

Side Guards: New push to make safety devices on trucks mandatory

NBCNews story on side guards (2/7/17): Side Underride Crashes Kill 200 People a Year. Will Congress Act?

The federal government does not require side guards on large trucks. Trailer manufacturers do not install them on the trailers they produce. Here are 5 ways you can help to change that:

  1. Sign our Side Guard Petition here to let our government & trucking industry leaders know that you want them to act NOW to SAVE LIVES by putting side guards on large trucks.
  2. Write to the 8 major trailer manufacturers. Tell them that you want them to put side guards on the trailers which they make and sell to trucking companies. You can find their contact information here.
  3. Support side guard research projects, which will help get affordable and effective side guards on the market. Donate here.
  4. Contact your legislators here.
  5. Submit a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here. After you get to this site, click on the Comment Now button.

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Aaron Kiefer’s underride protection devices: ENHANCING TRUCK SAFETY ​ SAVING LIVES

What Will It Take To Convince US That Side Underride KILLS But Side Guards Save Lives?

February 13, 2017 Update: I just received a notification of a new posting to the Federal Register of a Public Comment from someone asking DOT/NHTSA to mandate side guards! I am assuming that someone responded to my request for people to do so to help bring about change. 🙂 See it here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0049 Actually, a second person also submitted a comment.

You can do it, too! SUBMIT a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.

Side Guard Petition Signatures & Comments: end-deadly-side-underride-crashes-mandate-side-guards-on-large-trucks_022417

 

Ways We Can Work Together To End Deadly Truck Underride

Truck Safety, , ,

Side Underride Kills; Side Guards Save Lives

The federal government does not require side guards on large trucks. Trailer manufacturers do not install them on the trailers they produce. Here are 3 ways you can help to change that:

  1. Write to the 8 major trailer manufacturers. Tell them that you want them to put side guards on the trailers which they make and sell to trucking companies. You can find their contact information here.
  2. Sign our Side Guard Petition here to let our government & trucking industry leaders know that you want them to act NOW to SAVE LIVES by putting side guards on large trucks.
  3. Support side guard research projects, which will help get affordable and effective side guards on the market. Donate here.

Truck Underride will be featured on The Today Show, February 7, at 7:40 a.m.

AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety is Raising Money to Support These Road Safety Projects:

  1. Crash Reconstructionist Aaron Kiefer is developing an innovative combination side/rear underride guard. Help him get it ready to put into the hands of manufacturers. See Aaron’s side guard research here.
  2. Collegiate Engineering Senior Design Competition 2017/18: Support a student competition to creatively solve the side underride problem. Student teams will present their research at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center in the Spring of 2018, and one team’s side guard design will be selected for a crash test. (Last year’s Virginia Tech Senior Design Project presented at the Underride Roundtable.)
  3. We also promote other underride research & solutions which will be discussed at the Second Underride Roundtable on August 29, 2017 at the IIHS, including the AngelWing side underride protection device.

AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is eligible to receive contributions that may be tax deductible for the donor. Your donation will help fund projects that will save lives!

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AnnaLeah & Mary’s Story

Underride Guard Facts

Truck Side Underride Investigative Report to be aired on The Today Show, 2/7/17 at 7:40 a.m.

Truck Safety,

NBC News NY has extensively interviewed multiple individuals and organizations on the issue of deadly truck side underride — including a trip to North Carolina last month to film Aaron Kiefer’s side guard crash test. They are now ready to air the story on Tuesday, February 7, at 7:40 a.m. on The Today Show.

https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow/status/828658344407728128

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Why put rear underride protection on trailers but not Single Unit Trucks? Any underride is deadly.

Truck Safety, , ,

I ran across a study on underride fatality crashes this morning. I’d read it before but took a lot at it again. +

Then, this afternoon, while in city traffic, I saw an almost-side underride-crash between a car and Single Unit Truck (SUT). And when I arrived at a parking lot later, I saw a wimpy rear underride guard on a SUT.

So, why do we put rear underride guards on trailers but don’t require them on SUTs? (Not even mentioning that the current rear guard requirement is ineffective as written.) And why don’t we require side underride guards on any large trucks?

Truck underride is deadly no matter the truck size or portion of the truck the smaller vehicle rides under.

Trip North May 2015 033underride guards trip to RDU 007

SUT Underride guard Great Dane trip 061

+ For SUTs, the study showed that, “Considering all degrees of underride, trucks with a guard suffered slightly more underride than trucks with no rear-end protection, 69.5% to 66.7%. . . This result is counter to what would be expected, although it may be due to small, sample sizes and a host of other complicating factors. The severity threshold of the TIFA file may serve to decrease variation in the amount of underride by rear-end structure, since a fatality must occur for the crash to be included in the file. It could be that many of the collisions are beyond the design limits of the guards, and so the guards have no effect.” Underride in rear-end fatal truck crashes, Submitted to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, prepared by Daniel Blower Kenneth L. Campbell, The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, October 1999

In other words, the wimpy guards aren’t effective anyway, so even if a SUT has one, the guard usually doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do — which is to prevent deadly underride.

Current rulemaking on underride protection for SUTs is in limbo at NHTSA: ANPRM Underride Protection of Single Unit Trucks

Should safety be standard state to state? Does gov’t owe us protection from vehicle violence?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety

A recent truck crash in North Carolina has raised some important questions.

In the mountains, truck drivers can quickly find themselves in dangerous positions.

On Jan. 23, 2017, crews spent 15 hours cleaning up the wreckage of a tractor trailer ripped apart and on its side after the driver traveled left of center on the narrow, twisting Chunn’s Cove Road. . .

The trucking industry and drivers, including Terry Creech, are pushing the Trump administration and Republicans to roll back safety requirements.

“I’m hoping he’ll deregulate the industry,” Creech said.

Creech and the American Trucking Association want Congress to block state laws requiring additional rest breaks beyond federal rules.  Special Report: Trucking past inspections you?, how safe are

Fortunately, not everyone thinks that way.

As part of the investigation, News 13 also reached out to Trans Tech, a truck driving training school in Arden. It disagrees with the ATA and claim safety regulations do work. While it sees a need for mandatory rest breaks, it believes requirements should be standard state to state. Special Report: Trucking past inspections you?, how safe are

If a safety measure can help to create safer trucking and driving conditions for all users of the road (i.e, keep us all alive), then, in my mind, it is commonsense to have it be standard state to state.

In what universe would it make sense to put in place a proven safety measure in one region but not in another? Are we one country of united states or a continent of separate countries? Is that a logical federal function or not?

I did think that one of the functions of the federal government was to protect its citizens. Or am I wrong about that?

Do we have a right to expect that our government will act to protect us from vehicle violence?

Who has the power

We rescue, Jesus saves.

Unimaginable Grief of Preventable Crash Deaths: advocates tackling a public health problem head on.

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

Late last year, Neal Pollack interviewed me. He asked about our crash story and our family’s advocacy efforts. Then he proceeded to interview other traffic safety advocates as well. This is what he recently wrote:

The Unimaginable Grief of Distracted Driving Deaths How road safety advocates are tackling a public health problem head on.  BY NEAL POLLACK JANUARY 19, 2017

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Trucker charged in crash that killed 4 college softball players dies by suicide; Endless Grief & Regret

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

There is not one part of traffic tragedies that does not overwhelm our world with grief and regret. It goes on and on.

The report by the National Transportation Safety Board released in November 2015 found that the probable cause of the crash was a failure by Staley to control his vehicle “due to incapacitation likely stemming from his use of synthetic cannabinoids.” 

The report determined that passengers on the bus were not wearing seat belts and that the bus lacked appropriate crash-worthiness standards, both of which contributed to the severity of the injuries. 

Trucker who was charged in crash that killed 4 college softball players dies by suicide

I am more determined than ever to mobilize our country to do all that is humanly & technologically possible to save every life we can.

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