Category Archives: Truck Safety

Knights of the Underride Roundtable: Finding Some Common Ground to Protect Travelers!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

On June 24, 2016, people from diverse backgrounds met around a table at the IIHS offices in Arlington, Virginia, to continue the good work begun at the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016. This time, we rolled up our sleeves and hammered out a written recommendation for better rear underride guard requirements for tractor-trailers. To save lives.

First of all, we heard a presentation from Raphael Grzebieta on the approach which Australia is taking to improve rear underride protection in their country.

The basic idea is that they are not concerning themselves with spelling out detailed design specifications (e.g., what loads a guard needs to be able to withstand) but simply outline the performance evaluation criteria of: prevention of underride with the result of a survivable crash (with no injury criteria but instead relying on the crashworthiness of the passenger vehicle). While we might not yet be ready for that radical of an approach, we were given some food for thought.

(If anyone else had a different perception or would like to clarify my simplified explanation, please let me know and I can edit this description.)

Then, we had some useful discussion about the goals for improving underride protection, as well as some of the challenges which trailer manufacturers face. We benefited from some heated discussion which helped us to clarify terms and priorities. (See the bottom of the post for the Meeting Binder which I handed out for discussion purposes.)

After a break for lunch, we got down to work and spent some time brainstorming. As suggestions were tossed out for discussion, Andy Young typed up the suggestions , which were projected onto a screen for us to analyze and refine. Andy worked us hard and enabled us to reach a consensus and common ground upon which we could all agree.

What we came away with was a very good draft of recommendations for updated rear underride guard regulations for tractor-trailers. We also decided upon a tangible process for moving forward:

  1. David Zuby will send the list of recommendations to me.
  2. I will mail them out to the meeting participants.
  3. They will make suggestions for revision, if appropriate.
  4. We will come to a consensus for the creation of a final document to which we are all willing to sign our names.
  5. Then I will distribute that document to the entire list of participants of the original May 5 Underride Roundtable — giving them the opportunity to review it and decide if they want to sign it as well.
  6. We will then send the document to NHTSA via the Federal Register as a Public Comment on the Underride Rulemaking from the Coalition of Stakeholders Interested in Underride Prevention (CSIUP). [Tentative title for our group for lack of a better name to which we can refer]

We agreed to wait for future meetings to address other topics of importance* in the drive for underride prevention. These include such vital things as protection at higher speeds than 35 mph, Single Unit Trucks (which currently have inadequate or non-existent underride protection), side guards, front override, parking and conspicuity issues, and retrofitting.

Good work, team! Knights of the Roundtable! Just maybe, we will finally get our Dragon Underride Protector! To make Mary & AnnaLeah proud!

*Additionally, we briefly discussed the decades-old controversy of “too rigid guards” causing unintended injuries, deceleration forces, need for energy absorption, etc. See my thoughts on that: Urgent Underride Discussion of Deceleration Forces/High Speeds. Don’t Dawdle.

And today, I recorded my thoughts about this confusing issue. I hope some will take the time to listen. In any case, expressing it was helpful to me:

Underride Roundtable Follow-up Work Group (all 94 Roundtable participants from May 5 were invited):

  1. David Zuby (Chief Research Officer, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
  2. John Lannen (Director, Truck Safety Coalition)
  3. Gary Fenton (VP of Engineering, Stoughton Trailers — read that Sto like go)
  4. Ted Scott (Director of Engineering, American Trucking Associations)
  5. Aaron Kiefer (Consulting Engineer, Accident Research Specialists)
  6. Paul Hutson (ECU engineering student and intern with Aaron)
  7. Jared Bryson (Virginia Tech, Center for Technology Development, SR Mechanical Systems Group Leader)
  8. Perry Ponder (President, Seven Hills Engineering)
  9. Raphael Grzebieta (Professor of Road Safety & Australian Naturalistic Driver Study, Lead Chief Investigator)
  10. Jerry Karth
  11. Isaac Karth
  12. Marianne Karth

Underride meeting 6.24 001 Underride meeting 6.24 004 Underride meeting 6.24 006 Underride meeting 6.24 008 Underride meeting 6.24 003If onlysusanna mary annaleah in costumeDragon Underride Protector 004

International Call for Underride Research Re: Injury Prevention & Energy Absorption Issues

Contents of the Meeting Binder which I handed out for discussion purposes:

  1. Five Points Concerning Prevention of Truck Underride
  2. Proposal for an Energy Absorbing Underrun Protection System for Commercial Vehicles by Detlef Alwes
  3. UMTRI-89-2, Final Report: Examination of Features Proposed for Improving Truck Safety, May 1989 The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Aaron Adiv and Robert D. Ervin:  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/817/78350.0001.001.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Reveals how and why earlier underride rulemaking was opposed despite evidence to show that it was expected to be effective.
  4. Article by Andy Young, panel moderator at the Underride Roundtable: Broken Glass And Shattered Lives – A Mother’s Journey Through Grief Brings Hope For Preventing Underride Truck Crashes
  5. Preliminary_Regulatory_Evaluation_-_Re_NPRM_published_Dec_16_2015 (1)
  6. Highlights of the NPRM Rear Impact Guards, Rear Impact Protection December 2015 document
  7. Truck Underride Fatalities, 1994-2014
  8. Other documents and links provided to meeting participants:
    1. March Historically a Momentous Month for Truck Underride Safety Advocacy; Beware the Ides of March!
    2. Informative articles on underride:
    3. Voluntary Efforts:
    4. Underride Research:
    5. Underride Rulemaking:
      1. NHTSA Has Initiated a Rulemaking Process to Evaluate Options for Improving Underride Guards
      2. Good news from Australia: A Stronger Rear Underride Guard Rule Has Been Proposed!
      3. A Mom’s Knee-Jerk Reaction to NHTSA’s Proposed Rule to Improve Rear Underride Protection The basic problem is that the proposed rule is simply adopting the Canadian rule which 93% of existing trailers already comply with and does not address offset crashes. So it is not much of an improvement, plus it does not address side or front and SUTs. Or retrofitting.
      4. Comments on the NPRM for Rear Underride Guards on Trailers by Jerry Karth
      5. Truck Trailer Manufacturers Ass’n “Reminds” NHTSA: Side Guards Are “Not Cost-Effective” Says Who?
      6. NPRM Upgrade Rear Underide–Federal Register with Public Comments links
      7. ANPRM Underride Protection of Single Unit Trucks

Visual Rulemaking Law Review Article and Deadly Underride Discussion June 24 at IIHS

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Pray for an important meeting on Friday at IIHS in Arlington, VA. We will be discussing details for underride regulations and hearing a presentation from an Australian on their proposed underride rule.

Also, here is a draft of the “Visualizing Rulemaking” law review article (to be published in the fall). See pp. 43-44 and 65 for reference to AnnaLeah & Mary and our safety advocacy efforts.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2799334

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“Critics Say Underride Fix Will Do Little to Curb Deadly Hazard” As controversy continues, so do deaths.

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

FairWarning.org’s reporter, Paul Feldman, reports on the deadly underride problem and the controversy over how to solve it:

Critics Say Underride Fix Will Do Little to Curb Deadly Hazard by Paul Feldman, June 23, 2016

Meanwhile, as the discussion continues, people all over the world die every day because their vehicle is not prevented from riding under a truck. Just like AnnaLeah. Just like Mary.

If onlyNegotiated Rulemaking

There will be a meeting on June 24, at IIHS in Arlington, VA, with some of the participants from the Underride Roundtable, attempting to hammer out a better solution.

 

 

 

“Anton Yelchin’s Death Highlights a Known Issue With Jeeps”. . . NY Times & Care for Crash Victims

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:

An excellent article in the NY Times reports:

“The death of the actor Anton Yelchin, killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward down a driveway and crushed him against a mailbox pillar last weekend, has cast a public spotlight on a problem with some models of Jeeps and other Fiat Chrysler vehicles.

But for the company, there is nothing new about the issue — which federal regulators first flagged last August.

The question is why, nearly a year later, Fiat Chrysler has still not come up with a fix for the problem, which has now been linked to hundreds of accidents, dozens of injuries and now — potentially — a well-publicized death.

The company, which issued a recall notice on more than one million affected vehicles in April, will say only it is still working on a solution, there was no decision about a recall until this year and there has been no delay. It has written to federal regulators that the remedy will include a software change and “an additional mechanism to mitigate the effect of operator error.”

That solution is expected no later than July or August, a Fiat Chrysler spokesman, Eric Mayne, said on Tuesday in an email.

And yet, as far back as March, Fiat Chrysler was telling federal investigators that it already had “potential solutions.”

The problem involves an electronic gearshift, whose operation is similar to that of a video-game joystick. It has confused many drivers, who thought they had left their cars in park, only to find they were in neutral, and started rolling away after the drivers stepped out.

Rollaway accidents are particularly dangerous, and the investigation and recall are taking too long, Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group, said on Tuesday.

“There was no sense of urgency on Chrysler’s part or N.H.T.S.A.’s part given the potential for death or injury,” he said in an interview, referring to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”  See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/business/anton-yelchins-death-highlights-a-known-issue-with-jeeps.html

The cozy connections of NHTSA and Fiat Chrysler continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of NHTSA in protecting people.  See

http://www.careforcrashvictims.com/assets/2015-03-05JamesButlertoSarahSorgatNHTSAOfficeofCounselredepoofStrickland.pdf

http://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-casjeepjudgement.php

Lou

 

President Obama

What would I do if I were the National Traffic Safety Ombudsman?

Actor’s Death is Latest Example of Need for a National Vision Zero Goal & Traffic Safety Ombudsman

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

The recent death due to an auto safety defect is just the latest and most visible of the millions of reasons why we need to make Traffic Safety a National Priority!

Millions of good reasons to adopt a National Vision Zero Goal & Appoint a Traffic Safety Ombudsman

What are we waiting for, America?!

From Lou Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims:

Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The Center for Auto Safety issues release on latest Jeep fatality.

June 20, 2016

Actor’s Death is Latest Example of Inadequate Recall Response; CAS Lays Out Action Plan for Chrysler to Prevent Further Deaths and Injuries due to Transmission Defect

Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was killed June 18 when his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee pinned him against his mailbox in a rollaway incident.  Yelchin’s death is unfortunately the latest example of industry and government incompetence in the face of vehicle safety defects.

On April 22, 2016, Chrysler issued a recall of 2014-2015 Grand Cherokees, as well as 2012-14 Chrysler 300s and Dodge Chargers, in order to add an additional part to enhance the Jeeps’ monostable gear selector.  The design of the monostable gear selector has been the source of much confusion for Chrysler owners, resulting in hundreds of rollaway incidents reported to both Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).   Chrysler notes in its chronology that as of April 12, 2016 “FCA US has identified approximately 700 field reports potentially related to this issue which includes 212 crashes, 308 claims of property damage and 41 injuries.”

The vehicles involved had been under investigation by NHTSA since August 20, 2015, when the agency opened PE15-030.  When NHTSA upgraded the investigation to EA16-002 on February 3, 2016, the agency noted 121 crashes and 30 injury incidents in its opening memo.

Despite a clear defect affecting hundreds of owners with injury and potential death, Chrysler issued a Part 577 interim notification letter to owners promising to develop a fix by the 4th quarter of 2016. Just how quickly this fix would be available to owners is unknown, and given Chrysler’s recent recall efforts in fire-prone Jeeps, owners would be potentially subject to lengthy delays when seeking a remedy.

In a letter to Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, CAS Executive Director wrote:
The Center for Auto Safety calls on Chrysler to:
· Notify owners not to drive these vehicles until repaired under the safety recall.
· Provide free loaner or rental cars of comparable value to all owners until the vehicles are repaired under the safety recall.
· For owners who cannot wait until a recall repair is available, buy the recalled vehicles by at original purchase or lease cost with deduction for use as is done under state lemon laws where the defect exists on the day the vehicle was bought.
· Provide a detailed public timeline within 10 days of what is being done to make a recall remedy available, when parts will be available for all vehicles and who is doing the engineering for the recall.
· Sergio Marchionne should publicly go and apologize to the family of Anton Yelchin.

#     #     #

CAS Letter to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne

CAS Letter to NHTSA Administrator Rosekind

16V-240 Part 573

16V-240 Amended Part 573

16V-240 Amended Part 573 Chronology

16V-240 Part 577

PE15-030 Closing Resume

Redacted Chrysler PowerPoint Presentation to NHTSA

EA16-002 Opening Resume

Chrysler Consent Agreement with NHTSA on Recall Performance

Anton Yelchin Death: Jeep Grand Cherokees Were Recalled for Rollaway Risk – 6/19/16

CAS FOIA: Missing Chrysler PE15-030 Documents

CAS FOIA: Missing Chrysler EA16-002 Documents

List of Chrysler Transmission Rollaway Recalls

 

Clarence Ditlow

Executive Director

Center for Auto Safety

1825 Connecticut Ave NW #330

Washington DC 20009

11wjd2National Vision Zero GoalLetter of Support for ALMFTS Vision Zero Petition

Cover of Car Safety Wars by Michael Lemov
Cover of Car Safety Wars by Michael Lemov

Ombudsman for Traffic Safety

 

UN Regulation (No. 58) on rear underrun protection

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

Underride regulations from the UN, Number 58:

E/ECE/324 E/ECE/TRANS/505 } Rev.1/Add.57/Rev.2 Regulation No. 58 page 3 Regulation No. 58 UNIFORM PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF:

I. REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTIVE DEVICES (RUPDs)

II. VEHICLES WITH REGARD TO THE INSTALLATION OF AN RUPD OF AN APPROVED TYPE

III. VEHICLES WITH REGARD TO THEIR REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTION (RUP

REAR UNDERRUN PROTECTIVE DEVICES (RUPDS)

This will take some careful review to understand the relevance and significance of this United Nations underride regulation.

This is what John Creamer told me today:

There is a UN Regulation (No. 58) on rear underrun protection.  In fact, a German-sponsored amendment to increase the stringency of this regulation (the 03 series of amendments) entered into force today, having been adopted by WP.29 last November.  The new requirements become mandatory starting from September 2019. 

However, UN R58 is a type approval regulation not applicable under the US system.  For a regulation to be established that could apply outside the type approval world, a signatory to the 1998 Agreement would have to propose working on one.  In principle, the United States could make such a proposal to WP.29.

Negotiated Rulemaking

The Father’s-Day-Pain From a Loss That Could Have Been Prevented

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

I still have difficult moments periodically when I beg God to make it not be true — because how can it be that AnnaLeah and Mary are really and true not alive anymore?

If onlyIMG_4465

12d Christmas 2012 Rocky Mount 065
Jerry and 3 of his daughters, Christmas 2012
Cat and flowers 008
Jerry, Father’s Day 2016

 

Dawn King, a friend-because-she-also-lost-a-loved-one-to-a-truck-crash, wrote about the hard time she has had with Father’s Day this year. She wrote about her dad,

I should be able to give him a call, send him a card, even go for a visit. A couple weeks ago I did an interview and at the end the reporter asked me to send her pictures of me and dad. I realized I didn’t really have any of him and me together, just the two of us. I thought to myself that I should get a few taken next time I was home.

And then I remembered. Again. I have to keep remembering over and over and it’s just as painful each time. Nothing left to add this Father’s Day

Dawn was interviewed for this video while at a Truck Safety Coalition conference in May 2013 (while our crash took place):

 

INSIGHTS: HOW AND WHY U.S. NCAP IS CHANGING

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Last December 8, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced plans for a major upgrade to its 5-Star Safety Ratings new car assessment program, effective for vehicles manufactured after January 1, 2019. A major driver behind this announcement has been the heavy criticism from the US Congress following the failure of NHTSA to remedy the GM ignition and Takata airbag defect before they resulted in the deaths of 133 people.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind took up his post in December 2014 and quickly found himself playing defense against an assault of accusations, especially following the release of the NHTSA Inspector General’s report detailing shortcomings in the agency’s Office of Defects Investigations. In an effort to get ahead of this criticism, Rosekind has moved aggressively to assuage congressional concerns. . .

. . . the new NCAP would incorporate a number of collision avoidance technologies into the five-star rating (rather than listed as recommendations) described as: (1) forward collision warning, (2) crash imminent braking, (3) dynamic brake support, (4) lower beam headlight performance, (5) semi-automatic headlamp beam switching, (6) amber rear turn signal lamps, (7) lane departure warning, (8) rollover resistance, and (9) blind spot detection. NHTSA also plans to include pedestrian collision avoidance and rear automatic braking within its pedestrian safety rating under the NCAP.

 INSIGHTS: HOW AND WHY U.S. NCAP IS CHANGING? by John Creamer

The author mentions this possible concern with the process:

Nonetheless, rapid advances in vehicle safety technologies have challenged NHTSA capabilities, especially since the US rulemaking system requires NHTSA to clear a series of high hurdles before any new regulation can be enacted. Unable to rapidly issue changes to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), NHTSA has resorted to a voluntary agreement with automakers on automatic braking and the upgrade to its consumer information NCAP to reassure Congress that it is on the job and up to the challenge of new technologies.

Care 2 Petition Poster 008Washiington Vision Zero Petition photos 013

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

John Creamer is the founder of GlobalAutoRegs.com and a partner in The Potomac Alliance, a Washington-based international regulatory affairs consultancy. In his client advisory role, Mr. Creamer is regularly involved with meetings of the UN World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). Previously, he has held positions with the US International Trade Commission and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (representing the US automotive supplier industry), as the representative of the US auto parts industry in Japan, and with TRW Inc. (a leading global automotive safety systems supplier).

 

 

Global regulations underpin vehicle safety advances

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

While vehicle manufacturer and supplier networks globally will design, develop and implement greater levels of safety content than ever before, governmental and other interested stakeholder groups will continue to exert influence in bringing these technologies to marketing – in particular, where evidence shows that an advanced safety product can make a difference in reducing accidents, injuries and vehicle occupant and other road user fatalities.

Global regulations underpin vehicle safety advances  September 10, 2013

Can we help to bring about greater advancement in underride protection through global collaborative efforts? That’s what I would like to find out.

If only

INSTEAD OF LIKE THIS:

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Road safety: global health issue too-long ignored & 2 primary challenges to reducing road fatalities

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

So, this is an interesting read about road safety as a global health issue that has been ignored for too long. Please note the statement about the “two primary challenges to reducing road fatalities”:

Globally, road injuries are the top cause of death among people ages 15 to 29 – claiming upwards of a million lives a year. What’s more, 90% (pdf) of the world’s road deaths and serious injuries take place in low and middle-income countries, according to the United Nations (UN).

This global health emergency is finally starting to get the attention it deserves. We’re in the midst of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, which lasts until 2020; and in April, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to improve road safety.

But Dr Kelly Henning, leader of the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, says there are two primary challenges to reducing road fatalities. First, despite recent efforts to raise the profile of road safety, the issue isn’t broadly appreciated. Second, progress requires several sections of government to work together. As she notes: “It is about health, but also involves [action from] traffic police and road engineers, so it requires a lot of political attention.”  Road safety: the global health issue that’s been ignored for too long by Sue George, June 9, 2016

President Obama