Thank you for helping us take 20,000 Vision Zer0 Petition Signatures to Washington! Hallelujah!
Awesome, Mary would say.
Vision Zero Petition in Memory of Mary & AnnaLeah and countless others
Category Archives: Truck Safety
If 40 more people sign our Vision Zero Petition, we would take 20,000 signatures to DC.
A Public Comment on Underride Rulemaking re: original intent of NHTSA in 1969
I just read an interesting Public Comment on the Underride Rulemaking: Comment from 7-E Seven Hills Engineering, LLC – Transport Canada
Perry Ponder also commented on the Single Unit Truck Underride Rulemaking last fall: Comment from 7-E Seven Hills Engineering, LLC – Transport Canada
Of special interest to me was the information in both of his Comments on 1969 rulemaking:
“I will begin by pointing out that continuing to allow truck and trailer induced PCI to occur at otherwise survivable crash speeds (delta-V’s of 45mph and beyond) discards years of crashworthiness efforts and wastes the safety benefits we have come to expect and pay for in our cars.
From an engineering perspective the need for vehicle crash compatibility in the form of adequate heavy truck underride guarding is apparent in order to protect against the hazard of PCI which exposes the vulnerable head and neck region to severe, potentially fatal or crippling injury.
This hazard – easily remedied by readily available materials and simple structural analysis – is present also on the sides of heavy trailers and trucks. The FMVSS standard should be broadened to include guarding for the sides and rear of heavy straight trucks, as well as the sides of heavy trailers. This was the original intent of NHTSA rulemakers in the 1969 NPRM, Docket No. 1-11; Notice 2.”
I need to find out more about that Notice.
“U.S. can do better than simply adopt Canada’s rear underride guard standard” IIHS Status Report
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.
Less than 400 signatures needed to reach 20,000 on our Vision Zero Petition. Washington: March 4
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…/
The best kind of preparation for going to Washington to speak up for vulnerable road users. . .
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:
A Canadian comments on the US proposed adoption of Canadian underride standard
Insightful Public Comment from a Canadian road safety expert on the NPRM for upgrade of Rear Underride:
Regarding the above noted proposed rulemaking, I support fully a new rear guard standard that exceeds the Canadian standard, which was developed some time ago and that current research shows does not provide adequate passenger compartment protection in all crash scenarios. I also support fully that the new standard apply to all trucks including single unit ones. I believe the NHTSA has overestimated the costs and underestimated the benefits of such changes. More importantly, however, we must modernize the very way we think about road safety in the United States and Canada. We need to make the default design for every car, truck and bus to be one that simply minimizes all levels of human harm.
The use of a cost-benefit analysis for motor vehicle design and upgrades represents outdated thinking. The air, marine and rail industries have a much more forward approach when it comes to safety and more often works to ensure that these modes are safe for all persons. We must do the same with motor vehicles as the use of cost-benefit analysis involves assigning a monetary value to a human life and it is unethical and crass to do that.
Thank you for considering my comments on this important matter.
Regards,
Neil Arason
6 more Public Comments on Rear Underride Rulemaking
Here are the latest posted Public Comments on the NPRM for Rear Underride Guards.
Six Most Recently Posted Comments at:
Notifications from Regulations.gov
———————————-
DOCKET: NHTSA-2015-0118 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=NHTSA-2015-0118)
NOTIFICATION NAME:
FREQUENCY: Daily
EXPIRES: 01/11/2017
NUM DOCUMENTS: 6
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0031 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0031)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Stephen Batzer
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0032 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0032)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0033 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0033)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Stephen Batzer
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0034 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0034)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Aaron Kiefer
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0035 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0035)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Truck Safety Coalition (TSC)
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0036 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0036)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/23/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Neil Arason
AnnaLeah & Mary are “going to Washington, DC”; Vision Zero meetings March 3 & 4
Jerry, Isaac, and I are taking over 19,000 Vision Zero Petitions to Washington, D.C., next week. This time we are not taking them in individual envelopes. Instead, we have compiled a printed book (designed by Isaac) with the 16,516 signatures which we had on February 12–along with:
- the petition letter to Secretary Foxx
- the petition letter to President Obama
- explanations of what we mean by Vision Zero, along with examples of practical application of a Vision Zero Goal
- also, what we are asking for in an action plan, including a National Vision Zero Goal, a White House-mandated Vision Zero Task Force, and a Vision Zero Executive Order.
- Comments from signers of the petitions
- and links to all of the Vision Zero posts on the annaleahmary.com website.
We will also be making a pdf of the book available. And Care2 (ThePetitionSite) will be printing off all of the petition signatures, as of next week, and delivering them to us in a binder to take to Secretary Foxx.
On March 3 and 4, we have multiple meetings scheduled in Washington to discuss our requests and petition our country’s leaders to take decisive action.
This is our current Washington schedule (subject to change):
- 9 a.m. March 3, Rep. Ellmers’ staff
- 10 a.m., March 3, Rep. Cartwright’s staff
- 11 a.m., March 3, Rep. Holding’s staff
- noon, March 3, Sen. Isakson’s staff
- 2 p.m., March 3, joint meeting with Sen. Blumenthal’s staff & Sen. Markey’s staff
- 9 a.m., March 4, Sen. Burr’s staff
- 11 a.m., March 4, DOT policy officials
- 1:30 p.m., March 4, Underride Roundtable planning meeting
We have also arranged to have a Petition Book delivered to President Obama. When my granddaughter, Vanessa (6), saw the stack of books in my bedroom, she asked why they were still there. I explained that we were going to Washington next week and about the meetings and all of the people to whom we were going to be giving books.
Vanessa remembered going with us to deliver the first petition in May 2014. At 4, she sat quietly and “took notes.” Yesterday, she decided that she wanted to write a letter to the president to tell him that she missed Aunt Mary and Aunt AnnaLeah. So we will be taking that as well.
Recently-Submitted Public Comments Posted as Underride Rulemaking Process Continues
With the formal Public Comment period on the rear underride rulemaking for trailers now closed, recently-submitted comments have been posted and can be viewed at these links:
Notifications from Regulations.gov
———————————-
The link to the Proposed Rule is here:
DOCKET: NHTSA-2015-0118 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=NHTSA-2015-0118)
NOTIFICATION NAME:
FREQUENCY: Daily
EXPIRES: 01/11/2017
NUM DOCUMENTS: 9
The most recently-posted comments are individually listed here:
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0022 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0022)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Seven Hills Engineering, LLC.
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0023 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0023)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Randy Gates
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0024 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0024)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Jerry Karth
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0025 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0025)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Courtney Wood
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0026 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0026)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Marianne Karth
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0027 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0027)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Brian Vires
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0028 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0028)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Andy Young
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0029 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0029)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Erin Roth
DOCUMENT ID: NHTSA-2015-0118-0030 (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0030)
DOCUMENT TYPE: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
POSTED DATE: 02/22/2016
DOCUMENT TITLE: Comment from Peter Kurdock
