What is the answer to making sure that truck drivers are not driving TIRED? I tend to think that it is a multifaceted problem and needs to be addressed accordingly.
Take a moment to read what these truck drivers have to say about this life & death matter.
An underride guard–adequately designed, installed, and maintained–can mean the difference between life and death.
This JJ Keller Annual Vehicle Inspection Form does NOT list underride guards as an item for inspection. But, truck drivers, please make sure that your underride guard is in good condition!
Jerry and I recently went on a road trip and I could not resist photographing a few of the underride guards we saw en route!
This single unit truck is not currently required by DOT to have an underride guard. But look at what it does have at the back: a piece of metal that is highly unlikely to prevent a car from riding under it upon impact.
We have petitioned Secretary Foxx to require this kind of truck to have a rear impact guard.
“Driver training committee finds consensus on behind-the-wheel time
In Washington, D.C., a committee tasked with developing recommendations for a rule on entry-level driver training for truck and bus drivers has come to a consensus on language to present to the FMCSA on or before June 15. Among them are a required number of hours behind-the-wheel and the creation of a new national registry for driver trainers.
The Entry-Level Driver Training Advisory Committee – an appointed group of 26 stakeholders in transportation, safety and education – has met for six two-day sessions this year to find consensus as part of a negotiated rulemaking. . . ”
– See more at: http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=29143#.VW20lM9Vikp
5/29/2015
“As for the root cause of failures to protect the public in corporations and government regulatory agencies, consider money.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10
Whether it be relentless cost cutting demands by OEMs or the corruption of government regulatory policy the root cause is money.
Whether it be airbags exploding dangerously, or airbags not deploying when needed examination will find money at the root of corporate and governmental failures to protect. See report of June 2014 at
http://www.
We can and must do better than this at protecting people before profits.”
Louis V. Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims
AnnaLeah and Mary spent the first half of their lives growing up in West Michigan. They spent the second half in West Texas. Because of the many people who knew our family, we had decided to have two funerals–the first on May 18, 2013, in Midland, Texas, and the second on June 8, 2013, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We are immeasurably grateful for the support of countless people across the country who helped make these arrangements possible for our family and shared with us in this very difficult time of our lives.
This is from May 18, 2013:
So, you know, this spring I had a grand idea of planting a sunflower & morning glory house. Plant the sunflowers in a rectangle & then plant the morning glory seeds so that they can climb up those tall, sturdy sunflower stems. Marcus and Vanessa helped me plant the seeds. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jul/25/home/hm-6860
Mary at 2 by a sunflower watching Gertie
It was going well. The sunflowers had started to grow and had reached a second level of leaves. So, I had planted the morning glories and they, too, started to sprout. Then, yesterday, I went to check on them and some creature had decided to feast upon the sunflower leaves. Almost all of them.
A sunflower seed made it through the germination phase.
Some creature nibbled away on this fragile seedling–
and left the morning glories to fend for themselves.
Okay, I had tried growing one of these years ago without success–due to picking a too-shady garden plot. I wasn’t really surprised or devastated that it wasn’t going how I had hoped. But, this time, the bad news came after days and days of remembering our loss of AnnaLeah and Mary. And it was AnnaLeah’s birthday. . .
After my discovery, I just couldn’t seem to hold it together anymore. My eyes became leaky and I had to work extra hard to distract myself. It wasn’t just a sabotaged sunflower house; it was a symbol of our greater loss–over which I had no control and which I could do nothing to prevent or fix.
(Did you have to remind me of those convoluted truck safety issues which just don’t seem to get resolved –caught up in an endless political process and too-often getting set aside for “more important” matters, as if those 4,000 deaths–on average every year–which lead to pain-without-end are meaningless?)
Fast forward to this morning early–when I could not get back to sleep–when I realized another distressing fact: now I have planted a garden of healthy morning glories (well, until they too might get eaten), whose very destiny was to climb but who will have nothing to climb upon. What have I done?
And how well I can relate (this mother of nine with two who are no more). . .
Adding to the creative work of Pete Seeger & Joe Hickerson (http://performingsongwriter.com/pete-seeger-flowers-gone/):
“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?”
Where have all the loved ones gone, long time passing?
Where have all the loved ones gone, long time ago?
Where have all the loved ones gone?
Truck crashes took them every one.
Oh, when will we ever learn?
Oh, when will we ever learn?
Of course, writing about it does not change anything. But the words bring a measure of healing.
I hope that nothing gets in the way of a proposed study by FMCSA:
“. . . the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is pursuing plans to study whether the way truckers are paid leads to unsafe driving habits, rule-breaking and deadly crashes.
It’s an important study. It’s one that could open the door to federal regulations that determine how drivers are paid, if not how much. And, more significantly, it could lead to safer highways.”
http://savannahnow.com/opinion/2015-05-14/editorial-get-tired-truckers-road
Shortly after we delivered the 11,000+ AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petitions to Washington, DC, we were invited to tour the research & design center of a tractor-trailer manufacturer. After doing so, my immediate reaction was to wonder what would ever bring about a major improvement in underride guard strength. And I wished that I could just sit down with the trailer manufacturers and hammer out a solution.
An underride (or rear impact) guard is required by federal law for some large trucks to prevent a vehicle from sliding underneath a truck in the event of a collision. Too often, these guards–as in our crash–even if they meet specifications, are properly installed, and are maintained, do not withstand the crash and the smaller vehicle slides under the truck. As a result, life-saving technologies are not put into effect and there is intrusion into the passenger compartment.
In other words, the back of the truck comes into contact with people in the smaller vehicle who then experience horrific injuries and–too often–death.
I emailed many people–hoping to drum up some interest in addressing this issue jointly. When I found out that there was going to be a new administrator, Mark Rosekind, at NHTSA, I wrote to him and asked that NHTSA host an underride roundtable discussion.
After exchanging a few emails, I was contacted by his scheduling assistant, who said that we would have a phone call in mid-February. As it turns out, that conversation never took place. Instead, Mark Rosekind arranged for me to speak on the phone with David Friedman, Deputy Administrator at NHTSA, on March 27, 2015.
When we met with DOT on May 5, 2014, David Friedman was the one who told me that he would let me know when a rulemaking was announced for underride guards. And he did so on July 9, 2014 (after promising that they would make a decision in two months, he was very close!): https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/nhtsa-has-initiated-a-rulemaking-process-to-evaluate-options-for-improving-underride-guards/ . So, it was fitting that he would be the one to let me know about any progress on meeting our petition requests.
We discussed my hopes for an underride roundtable–to bring together those who could do something about improving underride guards. David told me that–while NHTSA would like to host such events–a discussion of underride would likely not occur until 2016. And, even then, it would probably be only one part of a broader truck safety conference.
That would definitely be a good thing but, in my mind, not give adequate attention to the underride issue. In fact, as we talked, it became clear that if an underride roundtable were going to occur, we would have to spearhead the effort.
So, after thanking him for the update, I scheduled a quarterly phone call for June–at which time he promised to provide me with information on the progress of the truck safety issues in our petition. Then I began brainstorming ways in which we could actually work to organize an underride roundtable–with NHTSA as potential participants.
Earlier, I had spoken about that possibility with John Lannen, Director of the Truck Safety Coalition. So, after speaking with David Friedman, I resumed that conversation. John and I came up with some initial steps to get the process underway. I made a few contacts, and so did he. As a result, we have had some interesting developments and hope to unveil the details soon.
Perhaps we are closer to seeing improvements in underride protection. Perhaps our loss can serve as a catalyst to encourage the development of The Best Possible Protection for preventing future losses from truck underride crashes.
Maybe its’s just me–and my frustrated opinion–but I have had it up to here with the impact of political battles on the safety of travelers on the road.
Just one example is the HOS (Hours of Service) Rules which have been debated forever and a day. Back & forth, back & forth–until what are we left with but an unenforceable mess of regulations and little accountability for truck drivers who are too often driving fatigued, under pressure to drive too many hours to make a living.
Then there is the provision which ties the hands of DOT to increase minimum insurance levels (not done for 35 years)–though they have already issued a lengthy report saying that it is necessary.
And don’t forget the increase in truck length (Double 33s). . . do we really want to share the road with them & will the drivers be trained to handle them?
It seems to me that those who have crafted & approved the anti-safety provisions in the FY2016 THUD Appropriations Bill have either had the wool pulled over their eyes or care very little for the human lives that are ended on a daily basis–whose blood is spilled on the highways of our country.
There has got to be a better way to move this mountain! It’s a matter of life & death.
