I have previously written about the need for parking for long-haul trucks. https://annaleahmary.com/tag/truck-parking/
I read these recommendations about this need today: http://www.underridenetwork.org/safe-and-legal-truck-and-car-parking-in-the-u-s/
We included a request to address front underride in our AnnaLeah and Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition. The response was that they would issue a separate decision on it at a future time:
Grant Of Petition For Rulemaking.
SUMMARY
By initiating rulemaking to consider enhancing related safety standards, this notice grants the part of the petition for rulemaking submitted by Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (Petitioners) requesting that the agency improve the safety of rear impact (underride) guards on trailers and single unit trucks. Based on the petition, available information, and the agency’s analysis in progress, NHTSA has decided that the Petitioners’ request related to rear impact guards merits further consideration. Therefore, the agency grants the Petitioners’ request to initiate rulemaking on rear impact guards. NHTSA is planning on issuing two separate notices—an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to rear impact guards and other safety strategies for single unit trucks, and a notice of proposed rulemaking focusing on rear impact guards on trailers and semitrailers. NHTSA is still evaluating the Petitioners’ request to improve side guards and front override guards and will issue a separate decision on those aspects of the petition at a later date.
Steve Hadley, Underride Network, has posted on the front underride issue. He says that,
“Front low-speed crashes with VRU (Vulnerable Road Users) are quite survivable with proper design.”
Read more about this issue here: http://www.underridenetwork.org/why-front-underride-or-underrun-is-important/
We included a request to address front underride in our AnnaLeah and Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition. The response was that they would issue a separate decision on it at a future time:
Grant Of Petition For Rulemaking.
SUMMARY
By initiating rulemaking to consider enhancing related safety standards, this notice grants the part of the petition for rulemaking submitted by Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (Petitioners) requesting that the agency improve the safety of rear impact (underride) guards on trailers and single unit trucks. Based on the petition, available information, and the agency’s analysis in progress, NHTSA has decided that the Petitioners’ request related to rear impact guards merits further consideration. Therefore, the agency grants the Petitioners’ request to initiate rulemaking on rear impact guards. NHTSA is planning on issuing two separate notices—an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to rear impact guards and other safety strategies for single unit trucks, and a notice of proposed rulemaking focusing on rear impact guards on trailers and semitrailers. NHTSA is still evaluating the Petitioners’ request to improve side guards and front override guards and will issue a separate decision on those aspects of the petition at a later date.
Read more about this issue here: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/front-underride-protection/
Did another Skype interview today with a TV reporter who had done an investigation of the underride problem in 2012. Almost 4 years ago and not much has changed since then. And it was before our crash. And his was just one of many broadcasts which have pointed out that something needs to be done about the underride problem!
Is it too much to understand that this neglect of a sorely-needed safety measure which has led to countless unnecessary deaths is very appalling, distressing, and frustrating?
I am glad for the progress being made in rulemaking, but my heart grieves for all the lost lives and the broken-hearted families who have to continue dealing with the senselessness of it all. It just doesn’t go away.
So, I shouldn’t be surprised that it was exhausting trying to move a mountain today and that the loss of thousands and the heartache of countless more is weighing me down.
MV-TRAFFIC-FATALITIES(1899-2009)
The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.
(Psalm 27 & 29)
As far as I’m concerned, decisions and actions to reduce crash fatalities are too often too little too late. So, while I’m thankful for the good things that are happening, as a mom of 2 girls who died too young, I think that there are too many delays and not enough priority assigned to Vision Zero activities.
Maybe if everyone working on these things had lost someone close to them (oh, I hope not), then they would be as tenacious and impatient as me.
And after reading some safety news today, I was thinking that perhaps things would also move faster if there were more opportunities for organizations throughout the country (and internationally) to share ideas so that no one would have to re-invent the wheel.
Wouldn’t that help things move along faster?
Some things I read today:
“Just sayin’,” Mary might have said.
Sign our Vision Zero Petition: https://www.change.org/p/obama-adopt-a-vision-zero-goal-and-sign-an-executive-order-to-save-lives-not-dollars
I am counting on President Obama’s statements related to gun violence also being applied toward the ongoing public health problem of traffic fatalities (or more clearly, people being killed on the road).
First I read Obama’s statement, “If there’s even one thing we can do, if there’s just one life we can save—we’ve got an obligation to try.” And now I hear that he is saying, “We can’t accept this carnage. . .”
How about the highway carnage? “One of America’s more egregious public health afflictions, deaths and injuries in car crashes, is being massively ignored.” – See more at: http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/09/a-strange-indifference-to-highway-carnage/#sthash.AI0IcziI.dpuf
That article also informs us, “Despite more than 30,000 deaths and more than 2.2 million crash injuries per year, highway safety has largely fallen off the political radar screen. Since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson publicly confronted a hostile auto industry by demanding, and getting, new laws governing the safety of automobiles, more than two million Americans have died of crash injuries. Since then no president has taken a forceful public stand in favor of strong government action to counter the death toll.”
I’d say it’s time to take a stand, President Obama. Set a national Vision Zero goal and sign a Vision Zero Executive Order.
Our story:
Across the nation, there are numerous individuals and organizations calling and working for Vision Zero goals and actions. What is the point? There are tens of thousands of people dying unnatural and preventable deaths each year due to crashes on our roads.
We are working tirelessly to call for President Obama and DOT Secretary Foxx to set a National Vision Zero goal and to change the traffic safety rulemaking policies so that every life possible will be saved.
President Obama: "If there’s even one thing we can do, if there’s just one life we can save—we've got an obligation to try.” #NowIsTheTime
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 4, 2013
At present, we have two Vision Zero petitions which we will be delivering to Washington, DC, as soon as we can arrange for it:
Please sign both of the above petitions now and spread the word that together we can save lives!
Truck Underride Kills: https://www.fortrucksafety.com/
You can be a part of calling on President Obama to take decisive action to move our country Toward Zero Deaths in 2016. Sign & share our petition:
Read these comments on our Vision Zero Petition from survivors, bereaved families, lawyers, truck drivers, engineers, and safety advocates:
Vision zero in road safety is an imperative public health goal, and one that is now fully realistic to embark upon.
I’m signing because as a Texan, my state has shamefully averaged 3,500 annual road deaths in the past 20 years. Based on historical data, I seriously doubt the Texas state legislature or state DOT has the skill or the desire to improve in the area of fatality reduction on Texas roads. For the safety of all road-users, the USA needs the help of a national Vision Zero strategy.
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I am signing this petition as a widow and now single mother of three children because a tired or distracted truck driver killed my husband while he was inspecting a bridge repair in his closed-off work zone. The pain of losing a loved one to these preventable crashes is beyond words. Losing a father at such a young age will leave emotional scars for decades, and our society doesn’t fully understand —or offer appropriate resources for coping.
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I am signing in honor of my late wife Tamara Mills-Hadley whom lost her life because a phoney underride guard law was passed that was not meant to save any lives, instead it just legalized the guards already on the road in order to save money and garner campaign donations. We also lost a family friend to unsafe trucks. No more!
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I’m signing because no one should have to suffer a sudden, unexpected loss of a loved one due to a preventable crash.
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WE NEED A VISION ZERO GOAL AND SIGNS…NOW TO SAVE LIVES!!!
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I’m signing because the loss of one human life in the pursuit of profit is wrong! Safety first!
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I’m signing because tragedies like this one can be avoided.
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Because business shoots for zero defects. Because my wife is dead and two sons seriously injured, one permanently, when an overworked trucker fell asleep at the wheel.
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ALL COMMENTS posted can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/obama-adopt-a-vision-zero-goal-and-sign-an-executive-order-to-save-lives-not-dollars/c
On January 1, 2016, we launched an online petition at Change.org–Adopt National Vision Zero Goal: Save lives not dollars!
Sign & share our new Vision Zero Petition: https://www.change.org/p/obama-adopt-a-vision-zero-goal-and-sign-an-executive-order-to-save-lives-not-dollars
During the fall of 2015, we collected over 15,000 signatures on a petition aimed at Secretary Foxx to apply Vision Zero principles to highway safety rulemaking. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/
But in order for DOT to act accordingly, they need to be empowered by a National Vision Zero mandate. That is why we are asking President Obama to set a national Vision Zero goal and to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order.
Help us send the message to Washington, DC, that we want to reduce the almost 33,000 crash deaths which occur each year. This is the petition letter which will be delivered to President Obama: Vision Zero Executive Order Petition Letter to President Obama
This is the executive order which I have drafted (which, of course, is merely my request/ recommendation): Executive Order Draft Application of Vision Zero Principles to Highway Safety Regulatory Review
Due to a shared interest in reducing preventable traffic fatalities and serious injuries, we are working with the following individuals & organizations to raise awareness and garner widespread support for this VISION ZERO effort (to be updated as more supporters get on board with us): Letter of Support for Vision Zero Executive Order Petition
Read more about Vision Zero: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/vision-zero/
An example of the application of VZ principles to rulemaking: Underride Guards–Apply Vision Zero principles by requiring crash test-based performance standards for truck underride guards rather than force-based design standards along with success at higher speeds—to include rear (both centered and offset) and side guards for both Single Unit Trucks and trailers. https://annaleahmary.com/2015/
The Economics of Traffic “Safety” has been on my mind for awhile. I am not really ready and/or qualified to write a full-fledged commentary on the topic, but I did want to jot down some of the thoughts and questions I have about this vital area.
Feel free to put in your 2 cents worth.
We want to change this situation for the better; we want to bring Americans together in a massive movement Toward Zero Deaths. Stay tuned for our upcoming online launch of a Vision Zero Executive Order Petition.
Memorial bricks placed for AnnaLeah & Mary Karth by Midland College (viewed by their niece & nephew)
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