See this recent Trucks.com article: Has the Time Come for Dedicated Truck Lanes?
Could this be one more strategy to make our roads safer?
Category Archives: Truck Safety
Road to Zero Coalition Considers Priority Actions to Reduce Traffic Fatalities
The Road to Zero Coalition Steering Committee organized the meeting on December 15 for 130 participants to spend an hour in groups of 4 and then 16 to identify Actions to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.
The participants were first divided into six groups based on these key areas/categories:
- Safer drivers
- Safer vulnerable users
- Safer vehicles
- Safer infrastrucure
- Enhanced emergency medical services
Then, each person was asked to come up with at least one action to reduce traffic fatalities and the following questions:
- Will it work? What could go wrong? How certain are we?
- What does it enable? What does it prevent or closeout?
- What is the potential impact? How certain are we about this?
- How will it affect the other 5 categories other groups are discussing?
These instructions were sent to us ahead of time, so I had spent some time as I traveled on Amtrak the day before to come up with these proposed actions–not knowing for sure in which group I would end up:
- Establish a Vision Zero Rulemaking process.
- Appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman.
- Set a National Vision Zero Goal.
- Establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force.
- Organize a Tired Trucker Roundtable.
- Organize and facilitate a nationwide network of Traffic Safety/Vision Zero community action/advocacy groups. (Develop a pilot project for a state-based Road to Zero Coalition which would reproduce its efforts through and support the development of RTZ groups in local communities throughout the state. Write a grant proposal for an Americorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America — I was one in 1977-78 when I worked as a nursing home patient advocate) corps of Community Organizers who would develop these grassroots traffic safety advocacy groups. Kennedy launched the Peace Corps as a result of the seed of an idea suggested to University of Michigan students during a campaign stop; let’s follow that example and harness the energy of today’s college graduates to mobilize the citizens of this country to be personally involved in this battle against the Goliath who is slaying our loved ones through Death by Motor Vehicle!
- Increase the minimum liability insurance for trucking companies.
- Develop an interactive Vision Zero map website — with pages devoted to information intended to influence driver and decisionmaker actions, including crash details and personal crash stories. This could include pages or links to crash maps which highlight specific crash causes or factors, e.g., the National Speed Fatality Map recently launched by the National Coalition for Safer Roads and the Vision Zero Network.
- Mandate comprehensive underride protection (rear, side, front) on all large trucks. I was in a horrific truck crash on May 4, 2013 and survived because, unlike AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13) in the backseat, I did not go under the truck when our car was sent backward into the rear of truck ahead of us. How many might be saved if this were to be made a priority to address?
- Develop innovative human/technology interface training to provide for ongoing improvement in ability to capitalize on advances in traffic safety technology.
- Create an online interactive traffic safety victim patchwork quilt.
- Redefine a vehicle as a weapon rather than simply a means of transport.Call for/initiate appropriate Vision Zero laws, along with effective law enforcement and justice for victims of vehicle violence. Specifically, expose those who oppose Vision Zero and counteract the forces that contribute to the perpetuation of an Unsafety Culture. Counteract “doubt science.”
- Launch a FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) pilot project modeled after Transport for London‘s “publicly funded, three-level voluntary certification program aimed at making sure freight companies have safe, sustainable working practices.”
I was placed in the Safer Vehicles group and had some lively discussion with other participants. Out of all my ideas (I only shared ones which would directly promote safer vehicles), I got support from another participant on #4 Establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force. Several times, he brought up the impact which resulted from the Commission on Drunk Driving established by President Reagan. And, in my opinion, if the Road to Zero Coalition backed this goal, it could have comprehensive and far-reaching effect on each of the six categories of Actions to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.
” What the President secretly did at Sandy Hook Elementary School”
I just read this account of how President Obama reached out to bereaved families two days after the tragedy at Sandy Hook:
Person after person received an engulfing hug from our commander in chief. He’d say, “Tell me about your son. . . . Tell me about your daughter,” and then hold pictures of the lost beloved as their parents described favorite foods, television shows, and the sound of their laughter. For the younger siblings of those who had passed away—many of them two, three, or four years old, too young to understand it all—the president would grab them and toss them, laughing, up into the air, and then hand them a box of White House M&M’s, which were always kept close at hand. In each room, I saw his eyes water, but he did not break. . .
The staff did the preparation work, but the comfort and healing were all on President Obama. I remember worrying about the toll it was taking on him. And of course, even a president’s comfort was woefully inadequate for these families in the face of this particularly unspeakable loss. But it became some small measure of love, on a weekend when evil reigned. Joshua Dubois: What the President secretly did at Sandy Hook Elementary School
It is my hope that the leaders of our country will show similar compassion toward past, present and future vulnerable victims of vehicle violence and also take appropriate action.
- Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem.
- I got an email from President Obama this week.
- Do it, President Obama, for We the People of this United States of America! #VisionZero
- Barack Obama Op-Ed: “Self-driving, yes, but also safe” Would he be willing to discuss this with me?
- Tell Obama you are standing with us in this: “Family Continues Fight for Trucking Safety”
- “Powers of the Pen and Our Safety”; Presidential & Congressional Potential
- The Future of Trucking; Who pays for the costs of safer roads?
Stoughton improved underride guards–standard “at no cost or weight penalty.”
We just received good news from Gary Fenton, VP of Engineering at Stoughton Trailers, with the announcement that their newly-designed rear underride guard is now available, as of November 1, 2016, on all new trailers produced by and purchased from them. Gary’s email to me on December 12, was very encouraging:
“Please find attached a press release and ad sheets associated with the Stoughton move to standardize a new under ride structure, designed to widen the area of impact protection on the rear of Stoughton Trailers. Stoughton is now standard on this new design for all straight vans (dry and reefer). The implementation of the design as standard began on Nov. 1, 2016 (pilot run of 100 units built in August). The inclusion of this new protection feature is standard to the customer at no cost or weight penalty.”
Stoughton Rear Underride Guard Brochure August 2016 pdf
Stoughton Trailers Introduces Underride Guard Press Release June 2016
Stoughton Safety Ad for Rear Underride Guard 10/17/16
This is good in more than one way:
- First of all, it means that — here on out — all new trailers purchased from Stoughton will be safer.
- Secondly, it means that Stoughton has set a new example for the industry in offering it as standard equipment and not merely an option.
Stoughton Trailers is one of four out of the eight major trailer manufacturers, tested recently by IIHS, which have responded to our request for voluntary improvement to their underride protection. The others are Manac (which improved their guard shortly before our crash), Vanguard, and Wabash. One more manufacturer hopes to have their upgrade crash tested early next year.
Thank you, Stoughton, and Gary Fenton, for your hard work and dedication to truly making safety a priority.
A more detailed explanation of the underride dilemma is available here: Underride Guards: Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out? June 27, 2014
Media Coverage of the first Truck Underride Roundtable held at IIHS on May 5, 2016
Several injured in 37-vehicle pileup on I-75 in Michigan; thankfully no truck underride deaths
Just last week, there was a pile-up of 37 vehicles in snowy conditions on I-75 in Michigan. Thankfully, there were no fatalities — plenty of totaled vehicles, I’m sure, but no fatalities.
Had there been truck underride by passenger vehicles, it could have been a whole different story.
See photos of the 37-vehicle pile-up here: Several injured in 37-vehicle pileup on I-75 near Holly Road
Recent IIHS Report on Truck Crash Risk Factors Clashes With Talk of Truck Regulation Moratorium
So much discussion about truck safety regulations these days. . .
On the one hand. . .
During his campaign, Trump said he supported regulatory reform and planned to issue a temporary moratorium on new agency regulations once elected. Trucking, Transportation Industries Looking for Trump Regulatory Changes
On the other hand. . .
Understanding why large trucks crash is key to developing countermeasures to reduce those crashes. New IIHS-sponsored research shows that serious vehicle defects triple the risk of being involved in a crash. Long hours behind the wheel and use of the short-haul exemption for federal hours-of-service rules also are important contributors to crashes. Safety defects and long hours contribute to large truck crashes
What will the future hold for oversight of the trucking industry? Who will be the winners and losers in this battle for control of truck safety? How many people will lose their lives or be seriously injured or lose a loved one due to a preventable truck crash in the coming years?
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- et cetera
Ongoing Tired Trucker (HOS) Controversy on The Hill Proves Need for Vision Zero Rulemaking
Latest IIHS Status Report shows that, “Safety defects and long hours contribute to large truck crashes”
The IIHS just published the results of their study of large trucks and crash risks. Topics covered include:
- Vehicle violations raise crash risk: Having vehicle defects of any type raised crash risk.
- Tired truckers and short-haul exemption are factors: Although short-haul drivers must comply with federal rules on work and rest times, they don’t have to record their service hours.
Read more here: Safety defects and long hours contribute to large truck crashes, Status Report, Vol. 51, No. 10 | December 8, 2016
Ongoing Tired Trucker (HOS) Controversy on The Hill Proves Need for Vision Zero Rulemaking
It didn’t take me long — after our family’s tragic truck crash — to grasp the futility of lobbying on The Hill as a truck safety advocate in an attempt to push for safer roads through safer regulations.
And then I learned a secret (shh). . . DOT’s safety agencies have their hands tied by an Executive Order (12866) which requires stringent cost/benefit analysis during rulemaking that too often undervalues human life & health and effectually allows industry lobbyists to sabotage and snuff out regulations which could make our roads more safe to travel on.
In case you hadn’t noticed, the DOT agencies which were meant to be our protectors — the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier SAFETY Administration) & NHTSA (National Highway Traffic SAFETY Administration) — have not proven to be consistently effective voices for our SAFETY.
That revelation — in combination with my own experience in wasted lobbying hours and my realization that others had tried unsuccessfully for decades before me to push for truck safety rules which might have saved my daughters — spurred me on to launch the Vision Zero Petition in 2015. It garnered over 20,000 signatures online in support of our requests for:
- A National Vision Zero Goal.
- A White House Vision Zero Task Force.
- A Vision Zero Executive Order to authorize Vision Zero Rulemaking (which would favor saving LIVES over saving PROFIT).
- An Office of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman (an independent but influential and vigilant voice for vulnerable victims of vehicle violence who could facilitate these goals).
- A nationwide network of Vision Zero/Traffic Safety community action/advocacy groups.
Although we took this Petition to DC in March 2016, we have not yet received a response to our requests. And, as I expected, the month of December 2016 has presented us with one more example of the need for this essential strategy: a resurrection of the Tired Trucker hours of service tug-of-war.
- Proposed fix to 34-hour restart in Congressional Continuing Resolution (Note this quote: “The American Trucking Associations was pleased that the restart fix was included in the CR, something that didn’t happen when the current CR was passed just before FY2017 began October 1.“ATA thanks Congress for including what should be a permanent fix to the Hours of Service restart in this Continuing Resolution, and we look forward to its final passage into law to resolve this issue,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “Reverting back to the pre-July 2013 restart shifts the emphasis back to safety by removing flawed data from the rulemaking process. The entire industry will now be able to comply with this rule thanks to a common-sense approach championed by a bipartisan group of legislators.”)
- A truck safety bypass
- Future of 34-hour restart rules to be taken up by Congress this week (Note the trucker thoughts in the comments)
- Trucking rider makes it into CR
- Big Trucks, Big Bucks
- Fact Sheet on Truck Driver Hours-of-Service from DOT (FMCSA)
- Impact of Hours of Service Rules: What is the truth?
- Debunking the Myths on Federal Hours-of-Service Rules for Truck Drivers (from DOT)
- It’s a Wonder Anything Ever Gets Done to Improve Safety on the Roads
- Fact Sheet on the Collins’ Amendment & its impact on Hours of Service Rules
- Congressional Action Could Decimate Trucker HOS rules; What will end this tug-of-war?
All of this, and more — most especially my daughters’ truck crash deaths which might have been prevented had all of this nonsense been addressed appropriately — has led to my efforts to work with others to organize a successful Truck Underride Roundtable and an upcoming Tired Trucker Roundtable.
And I really do keep hoping that a national traffic safety advocate will be appointed and Vision Zero Rulemaking will become a thing. . .
Lame Duck Actions Could Reverse the Tide of Highway Carnage
Time is running out for the Obama administration to leave its mark. Lou Lombardo suggests that Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx could take a Lame Duck action on the controversy over truck driver Hours of Service.
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Crash victims and consumer groups ask for help of “Lame Duck” DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx.
letter-to-secretary-foxx-tired-trucker-provisions
It may be too late, but it is nice to see the organization of grieving families raising their voices for safety to protect all of us from future harm.
Let’s help them.
Lou Lombardo
I say, Let Secretary Foxx, NHTSA Administrator Rosekind, and FMCSA Administrator Darling go one step further. Persuade President Obama to sign a far-reaching executive order to authorize DOT to do Vision Zero Rulemaking which would always give proper weight to human life & health over profit — unlike the current rulemaking activity on The Hill. And, perhaps more importantly, let them convince Obama to appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to be an independent vigilant voice for vulnerable victims of vehicle violence.
Oh, I know. . . our newly-elected president could overturn those actions and wipe out the good they would do. But — were Trump to do such a thing — I would do my best to draw attention to such blatant disregard for the safety of the citizens of this country.
Imagine if this could be so. . .
Can you find Traffic Safety, Vehicle Violence, Crash Deaths, or anything like that listed as an issue on the White House website? https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues
Tug-of-War Continues: Letter to U.S. DOT Sec. Foxx on “Tired Trucker” provision in gov’t spending bill
Yet another example of the tug-of-war over truck driver Hours of Service and one of the many reasons why I want to organize a Tired Trucker Roundtable. . .
And why Vision Zero Rulemaking is so necessary!!!!
Safety advocates sent a letter to Secretary Foxx today:
Read the entire letter here: letter-to-secretary-foxx-tired-trucker-provisions
Hang in there. I’ve found some people who are eager to help me organize the Tired Trucker Roundtable. We hope to tackle this problem by bringing many interested parties together around the table to discuss and work toward resolution of this life & death problem.
