Category Archives: Truck Safety

Two Years After Our Truck Crash: With Hope, We Carry On

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

It has been two years now since we set out for Texas from our home in North Carolina and unexpectedly “said goodbye” to AnnaLeah and Mary when our trip ended in a horrific truck crash outside Greensboro, Georgia, on May 4, 2013.

Just recently, a memory surfaced of Mary when we lived in Michigan and she was just a little tyke. I was putting one of her Beanie Baby dogs on my bed and it reminded me of when she used to get so excited to see a pug at one of the houses she delivered The Grand Rapids Press to in her section of our family newspaper route. The memory made me smile.

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It got me to thinking about memories and what we have left to help us carry on. When we lose someone, perhaps what is initially on our mind is thoughts of how they were at that time when they left us–at that age when they died. AnnaLeah will seem forever 17 to me and Mary forever 13. But my memories of them jump all over the years (depending on what it is that triggers a particular memory).

My heart is full of so many good moments. Even painful or frustrating times (like getting tangles out of long hair or grumpy, girly moods) have a place in my thoughts which make them seem not as bad as they once did and worth going through all over again if only the girls could be back here with us.

It wasn’t my plan to have it be this way–to have those moments come to an end and only be able to carry the girls in my heart as memories from the past. But here I am, learning how to treasure those memories with a grateful heart for the gift Mary and AnnaLeah were and the confident hope of seeing them again.

Tears & smiles mercilessly mingle. Meanwhile, slowly and mercifully, new reasons to live and love and laugh beckon me ever onward.

Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary–the joy & the pain–with hope, we carry on.


Photos & video of our girls set to the song, With Hope, by Steven Curtis Chapman–a dad who wrote this song after his own tragic loss of his youngest daughter.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5519704

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/musician_steven_curtis_chapman.html

Let’s Make Sure Hands-Free Driving Technology is SAFE

Truck Safety, ,

There have been too many design flaws in vehicles which unknowingly turned minor crashes into DEATH sentences. Let’s make sure that new technologies are SAFE & don’t lead to unforeseen problems. Totally.

Read this on hands-free technology and its legality: http://ht.ly/MrPDt

“We need to figure out how to regulate them in a way that doesn’t stifle innovation with too much red tape but also ensures this technology is safe and is used properly, Mr. Hurin said.”

https://annaleahmary.com/2015/04/careless-attitudes-can-contribute-to-unnecessary-deaths/

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Take it seriously; it’s a matter of life & death.

How a Truck Crash Changed the Month of May; or What Happens When Nobody Takes Responsibility?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety,

I used to love May; it was my favorite month with moderate temperatures in my home state of Michigan–freshly-green growth and the sweet fragrance of blossoming trees.

Not so much anymore. When an underride truck crash, on May 4, 2013, robbed my two youngest daughters of life, my pleasure in the month of May quickly dissipated.

And the problem is that it is not just that day–when AnnaLeah died–but the days following May 4 as I learned of her death and recovered in a hospital two hours away from where Mary lay dying in another hospital and our family was scattered around the country struggling to grapple with the terrible tragedy we faced.

Then there came the day when Mary died: May 8, followed by days of planning funerals and headstones and travel arrangements–struggling to strive for normalcy in the celebration of four college graduations and a wedding. We too-quickly faced what would have been AnnaLeah’s 18th birthday on May 15, and not so many days later we gathered together, on May 18, for the first of two funerals for the girls–this time in Midland, Texas.

We went home for the first time since the crash on May 19 –a desolate, empty feeling when we arrived at the house they had left behind expecting to return themselves at about that time, their belongings awaiting the arrival that never happened.

The rest of the month was the beginning of learning to live without them and planning for their second funeral in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 8. So, basically, the month has become one reminder after another of what we have lost. Is is any wonder that I no longer look forward to May?

Today for example, is May 2, but it is also the first Saturday in May, which is the day of the week when we started out on our fateful road trip to Texas from North Carolina which ended abruptly (for AnnaLeah and Mary) in Georgia. Even this day has me in turmoil.

53g Mary withsiblings3 WarsawINFilmPhotographer_MIMemoria_Film_101

The grief is complicated by the many things which I have learned about highway safety and the growing awareness that, way too often, nobody really takes responsibility for the countless and potentially-preventable deaths which occur on the roads of our country year after year.

Until that May, I had never heard of an underride crash–too often due to an underride guard that did not prevent a car from riding under a truck and resulting in horrific injuries and deaths. Recently I have read many reports of the problems with defective cars and the fatal crashes which have occurred as a result. Who takes responsibility for these deaths? And when will they come to an end?

For example, here is a report on recent activity with GM recalls:

“. . . the company took its taxpayer-funded bailout agreement and turned it around on millions of consumers unlucky enough to own compact cars with ignition switch defects who had accidents before July 10, 2009, the date when the agreement became effective. Invoking a liability shield negotiated by the Obama administration,GM won a ruling from a bankruptcy judge that is now on appeal, avoiding billions in damages for injuries, deaths, and the lost resale values of vehicles with the defect. The judge took the view that when the ‘old GM’ went bankrupt, the ‘new GM’ got a fresh start, even though all but 15 of the executives and managers involved in the ignition switch fiasco remain ensconced in the company’s iconic skyscraper in Detroit. GM won this counter-intuitive relief even though a report it commissioned from former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas revealed that senior executives knew about the problem as early as 2005 but dragged their feet on notifying consumers until 2014. ‘Although everyone had responsibility to fix the problem, nobody took responsibility,’ he wrote.”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rena-steinzor/gm-and-its-no-good-very-bad_b_7191124.html

“Why Not Jail? makes a compelling argument for criminal prosecutions of executives who tolerate noncompliance and endanger public health and the environment.’”  http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/white-collar-crime-and-justice

Urgent – Contact Senators Now to Oppose Dangerous Double 33’s

Truck Safety,

Here is a way that you can help now. It has come to my attention from the Truck Safety Coalition:

Congress Must Do All It Can To Improve Truck Safety And Keep Our Roads Safe For Our Families – Increasing Truck Lengths Will Not Do That!

“Companies like FedEx are pushing Congress hard to allow double 33’ tractor trailers. The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill, released this week, contains provisions to allow these deadly double 33’ tractor trailers on federal and local roads.  We must do everything we can to prevent this from happening in the Senate so that we have a fighting chance as the bill moves towards a conference between the House and Senate.

Please take the time to contact the following Senators – it does not matter if you are from their state – either by phone or email, and urge them to resist special interest attempts to allow this dangerous legislation to the THUD FY16 Appropriations bill OR during the long-term surface transportation reauthorization process.  Just identify yourself as a Volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition.

Note: Only Senator Tester actually serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The others all serve on the Senate Commerce Committee, which is the authorizing committee that should be examining this type of policy fully and before the public before it gets slipped into an appropriations bill.

Contact Information:

Talking Points: 

  • Every year on average 4,000 people are killed in truck crashes in the U.S. and another 100,000 are injured.
  • According to 2012 U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) data, fatality figures have increased for the fourth year in a row—a 17 percent increase in truck crash deaths since 2009.
  • The annual cost to society from crashes involving Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) is estimated to be over $99 billion.
  • The proposed 33-foot double-trailer trucks are 10 feet longer than the trailers they would replace and are 17 feet longer than the 53-foot single-trailer trucks on the road today.
  • If passed, the proposed legislation allowing these trucks would override the laws of many states. 
  • Public opinion polls are clear and consistent – Americans strongly oppose bigger trucks.
  • Longer Trucks Will Be More Dangerous to Motorists, Motorcyclists, Bicyclists and Pedestrians
  • Longer Trucks Will Result in Increased Costs to Tax Payers – We lack the resources to appropriately maintain and replace our infrastructure. The Highway Trust Fund is now projected to go broke in fiscal year 2014. State highway departments are also running out of money for key highway projects. Cities and schools across the U.S. are forced to cut budgets to do more with less.
  • This type of broad policy change has no place in the appropriations process and should be properly vetted and debated through the committee authorization process.
  • Safety must remain a priority in the next surface transportation reauthorization and in any extension of the current bill.
  • Congress Must Do All It Can To Improve Truck Safety And Keep Our Roads Safe For Our Families – Increasing Truck Lengths Will Not Do That!”

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Same Old, Same Old: Trucking Safety Debates Impact Spending Bill

Truck Safety, , , ,

When the trucking industry uses the appropriations bill process to sway votes, what do you think is their primary motivation: Safety or Profit?

See what you think:

“Foxx said Republicans are conducting an end run around the normal legislative process by including the trucking provisions in his agency’s funding bill.

What’s happening is the appropriations process is now being used to create policy, which, when it comes to safety, that’s a real problem because it leaves us without a process with which we can articulate the concerns we have, he said. You can expect us to be very vocal about these issues, and my hope is that folks won’t only reconsider the merits of some of the issues, but also some of the processes that some of these issues are dealt with, because there’s a much better process available.

The trucking industry offered a starkly different perspective, saying the provisions that are included in the THUD bill have been on Congress’s agenda for a long time.

These issues have been debated for years, American Trucking Association spokesman Sean McNally told The Hill on Wednesday morning, noting that lawmakers will be holding a hearing on the appropriations bill in the afternoon.

They’re the same issues we’ve been talking about for years, and now we’re going to talk about them again, he said.

McNally added the appropriations bill is fair game for the trucking provisions because it is a piece of legislation that is moving through Congress.

We obviously take a different view of the safety ramifications of these provisions, he said, describing the changes as a number of things we believe will increase output and safety.”  http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/240453-gop-spending-bill-reignites-trucking-debate

Sounds good, but just exactly how will their actions increase SAFETY? That is what I want to know.

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Be a part of our team to promote safety & save lives

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

We appreciate all of the people who signed the  AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition. Together with over 11,000 people, we helped to send a strong message to the Department of Transportation: Changes are needed in truck safety issues in order to stop the senseless, preventable deaths which occur year after year on the roads of our country.

Please act now to be a part of our team to continue our push for change. The most important thing which you can do is to stay connected with us by signing up to be on our Mailing List (get our newsletter and other important updates).  As we continue to make inroads in truck safety issues, your participation is vital.  We would like to be able to let you know when there is a way for you to help make a difference. You can multiply our safety advocacy efforts.

Newscast from our trip to DC to deliver the petitions to DOT:

To read more about the impact of our petition and what we want to continue to do, read more here: https://annaleahmary.com/how-you-can-help/

Other ways you can be involved:

1. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryandAnnaLeah

2. Sign up for email notification of new posts on our website.  You only need to provide your email address. You can be confident that we will use it only to send you notification of our posts. Click on the SUBSCRIBE button on the bottom right column of our website.

3. When you read our posts, take advantage of the opportunity to share it by clicking on the social media icons at the bottom of each post.

4. Subscribe to the Truck Safety Coalition’s Email List to receive their “Action Alerts” and other News Updates. Click here:  http://trucksafety.org/karth-family-and-truck-safety-coalitions-next-steps/

5. Like the Truck Safety Coalition’s Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/trucksafetycoalition

6. Follow the Truck Safety Coalition on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TruckSafetyOrg?lang=en

For those of you who have lost a loved one yourself in a truck crash, please consider sharing a photo and story with us on our Truck Crash Victim Photo Memorial Page. Not only will this allow us to help you preserve your loved one’s memory, but it will also serve as a reminder of the countless lives which have been touched by preventable truck crashes. Send your information to us here: photos@annaleahmary.com .

On behalf of the family of AnnaLeah & Mary Lydia Karth, whose loss we feel so deeply,
Jerry and Marianne Karth

Picture 275AnnaLeah writing

Don’t Be Caught Unaware: Find out what YOU can do to become a safer driver

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. I don’t know if we will ever know what kind of Distracted Driving was responsible for AnnaLeah’s and Mary’s deaths (no one investigated this thoroughly that we are aware of). But we do know that the truck driver–for whatever reason–did not notice the slowed traffic ahead in time and, and as a result, hit our car twice.

Was his driving impaired due to being distracted, drugged, drinking, or drowsy (Driving While Fatigued–DWF)? Whatever the reason, AnnaLeah’s and Mary’s lives were abruptly ended.

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Hardly a day goes by without coming across some reminder of the special girls they were and the empty place that no one else can fill in our lives. Just this morning, I found a little piece of paper that had fallen off a clothes hanger. In the last couple years of her life, Mary had made tags for her hangers and meticulously organized her closet.  A simple reminder of our Mary, a poignant reminder of our loss.

Hanger tag Mary's jeansMary shorts 033

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Here are some further thoughts & tools to help you avoid distracted driving:

We are all susceptible to making driving mistakes. I encourage you to take steps to make sure that your driving is as safe as possible. No regrets.

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Careless Attitudes Can Contribute to Unnecessary Deaths

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

Over and over, I hear the litany: “Yes, that is important (fixing a design flaw), but what we really want to do is stop crashes.”

Yes, I want to stop/prevent crashes as well. That is very important to me. But, it seems to me, such an attitude displays a lack of commitment to fixing design flaws and indicates a disregard for lives lost due to delays and inadequate improvements.

In other words, Safety Is Not REALLY a Priority and so–in my mind–there are too many people whose actions contribute to unlawful deaths. I am not trying to imply that they act knowingly & intentionally. But the end result is the same: preventable & tragic deaths.

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Unfortunately, “they” apparently don’t see it that way. However, I’m quite sure that they would get it if one of their loved ones was killed by a “defective product”; money would not be an object and they would be searching day and night–just like me–to find a solution to the problem. And, just like me, designing the best possible protection as quickly as possible would become their goal.

headstone

This has been my opinion for awhile now (months which are turning into years following that tragic day: May 4, 2013)–ever since I was in a truck crash which I survived and my daughters did not (the underride guard did not prevent them from going under the truck). And I have written about it before:

But every time I run across this attitude again, it creates fresh pain and frustration. It leads to hopelessness about things ever truly changing to prevent further heartbreak, like in a phone call which I had recently where I heard it again: “We want to do something about [this defect] but we really want to prevent crashes.” I do, too. But that does not negate the importance of making vital improvements in order to make crashes–when they inevitably do occur–less likely to end in death.

Let’s not allow product liability to be treated lightly. [http://tinyurl.com/o69fgua] Somebody needs to be held responsible for NEGLIGENCE which leads to horrific injury and/or death. Before it is too late. . .

For example, read this account of the recent $150 million settlement in the death of a child, Remington Cole Walden, in a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee:

When manufacturers are not held responsible legally or ethically for identifying and providing the best possible protection but are allowed to look the other way–sweeping the problems under a rug–then no one is truly held accountable for deaths. The result–too often–is that there is no change or the change is too little or comes too late for too many loved ones.

This careless attitude is seen in those whose reckless actions–with a disregard for the lives of others–end in crash fatalities for other reasons as well. What will it take to shake us out of our complacency? Government regulations, law enforcement, stiffer consequences for those held responsible? Death of a loved one?

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AnnaLeah and Mary had their lives abruptly ended–like so many others. That is not natural. Were it not for the reckless actions of others, they, too, like Abraham and Job could have died “a ripe old age. . . and satisfied with life.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+15%3A15&version=NKJV  and  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A8&version=NASB )

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Sign & Share our Vision Zero Petition:   http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Too Often, Too Little, Too Late; A Conspiracy of Silence

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

AnnaLeah and MaryIMG_20140508_114515_341

What would account for the fact that–Too Often–we humans tend to ignore dangers that lurk in the background waiting to take a life? What is it that causes us to do Too Little to prevent injury or death? Why does it take a death to wake us up and stir us up to try and do better–all Too Late for Someone?

Years ago, I worked with someone who became my friend. After a time, she had a baby who quickly became her new primary focus. I’ll call the baby Joy because she was her mama’s joy.

18 month project report

“Joy” at 18 months, 1983 (?)

We more-or-less kept in touch with Christmas cards, until one Christmas–16 years later–our former boss included a news article with her card to me: Joy had been killed when the car she was riding in was hit by a train.

Of course, my friend was devastated and despite my attempts to reach out to her, I have never heard from her again. I assumed that it was just too hard for her–knowing that I was the happy mother of nine living children.

Fast forward to 2013, when I, too, experienced the awful devastation of losing a child [make that two] to an unexpected, horrific, potentially-preventable, premature death due to a car crash [this time hit by a truck]. Now I understood what my friend had faced.

Just recently, I tried to reach out to her again–to no avail–after I ran across the news article and the picture of baby “Joy” when going through boxes at our home. I re-read the details of the crash and discovered that there had been no flashers or guard at the fateful railroad crossing–less than a mile from her high school.

As a bereaved-mom-become-safety-advocate, I wanted to know if something had been done to improve safety at the site of that crash 34 years ago. I was encouraged to find out, from the township responsible for that section of roads, that they had bypassed the option of flashers and guards and immediately closed off that particular dirt road where it crossed the tracks.

A good move. Chances are it saved someone. But it was Too Late for Joy.

Why does it Too Often take a death to wake us up to the dangers that were there all along? I will share more thoughts on that later. But it seems to me that the basic problem is that we all–all Too Often–don’t face up to the reality of death, including our own, those close to us or those around us–at least not in a way that would cause us to change anything substantially to be more vigilant, to look through the lens of alertness for danger.

Death, we whisper in our unconscious mind, won’t touch us and, on top of that, what we do won’t affect anyone else. At the same time–almost in the same breath–we do acknowledge the inevitability of death to the extent that we all Too Often develop a callous attitude. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be.

So then, talk of “safety” can easily become lip service and OTHER THINGS take precedence in our time, money, and focus. And if anything is done in the name of safety, it is Too Often Too Little to be much good–and the cost is certainly not justifiable when it  will only impact a small percentage of people anyway.

Does this have to be so? Is this the way we really want it to be: A world filled with grieving people, hearts broken more than they should be by the frustration of knowing that–just maybe–it could have been prevented?

(This is not about making people feel guilty or bitterness & unforgiveness but circumspectly planning ahead and taking responsible action.)

This, of course, is complicated by the many factors and people involved. As a result, it becomes all too easy to look the other way, to point the finger of blame at someone else, or to have on blinders which prevent each one from seeing their part in the process which needs to involve us all.

Consider this a Wake Up Call. I hope that this startles you into self-examination and leads to fruitful action. I hope so because I know the unending pain of loss and the nagging sense that my two daughters, AnnaLeah (forever 17) and Mary (forever 13), really had a whole lot of living left undone.

My faith in the God who loves me, and my knowledge that AnnaLeah and Mary had the gift of faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord, keeps me enfolded in the comfort of His peace and the anticipation of our one-day-joyful Reunion. But it does not convince me to embrace a laissez-faire attitude about safety.

The day before their funeral, I was reading Psalm 91 and questioning, with my newly-broken heart, how God could say His angels would guard them from evil. In my mind, this had not occurred. Well, did it? (Note: I know that He cares for them by bringing them into His eternal presence.)

I accept that He is a sovereign God. But I also know that He allows sin in this world and sin leads to death and destruction. I don’t think that He caused the crash, but I know that He did not stop it or any of its horrific details.

I also believe that He says that He will make it work together for good. So I watch as that enfolds now and in the life to come. Yet, I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like had “sin” and carelessness and thoughtless decisions and who-knows-what-else had not intervened–saving God the trouble of His redeeming handiwork after their untimely deaths.

Sometime after the crash, we began attending a new church–one which has a frequent practice of reciting Martin Luther’s Morning Prayer in Sunday morning services:

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen”

https://historictrinity.org/commonprayers.html Hear the prayer as a song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AZ6g94hmnc or  https://vimeo.com/9651771 or https://soundcloud.com/kevinbueltmann/morning-prayer-song

I have a hard time saying those words because they remind me that He did not keep AnnaLeah and Mary from all harm and danger and that it seems to me that the evil foe did have power over them. I usually say to myself, “What was Luther thinking when he wrote those words?!”

So, the other day when I ran across a book in our collection, Luther & His Katie–a biography of Martin Luther and his wife, Katie–I read with a great deal of interest the description of Luther’s reaction to the death of his loved ones.

http://www.amazon.com/Luther-His-Katie-Maccuish-Dolina/dp/0906731348

After losing his 8 month-old second child to illness,

“Luther wrote, ‘My little daughter Elizabeth has been taken away from me, leaving me strangely sick at heart, almost like a woman so deeply am I grieved. I would never have believed that a father’s heart could be so tender towards his children.’

“Katie [his wife] was inconsolable and it took her a long time to get over the loss.” (p. 52) Later the author records Luther’s reaction to the death from illness of his 13 year-old daughter, Magdalena: “‘Oh God,’ Luther prayed, ‘I love her dearly but Thy will be done.’ And turning to her, ‘Magdalena, my little girl, you would like to stay with your father here and you would as gladly go to your Father in heaven?’ “‘Yes, dearest father, as God wills.’

“And Luther grieved that though God had blessed him as no bishop had been blessed in a 1000 years, yet he could not find it in his heart to give God thanks. . . .

“As the end drew near Luther fell on his knees at her bedside praying with tears that God would receive his dear one while Katie stood at the far side of the room unable to watch her child as she died in her father’s arms. Then he turned to console the weeping mother.

“‘Dearest Katie, let us think of the home our daughter has gone to, there she is happy and at peace.’ “When she was laid in her coffin he said, ‘My darling Lenchen, you will rise and shine like the stars and the sun. How strange to know that she is at peace and all is well and yet to be sorrowful!’, and to his friends who came to weep with them,

“‘Let us not be sad. I have sent a saint to heaven. If mine could be like hers, I would gladly welcome death at this very hour.’ “She was buried beside her sister Elizabeth in the churchyard and Luther wrote an epitaph,

Here I, Magdalena, Doctor Luther’s little maid

Resting with the saints, Sleep in my narrow bed

I was a child of death, For I was born in sin

But now I live, redeemed Lord Christ, By the blood You shed for me.

“She died shortly after 9 o’clock on the 10th of September and three days later the heartbroken father wrote to Justus Jonas. . . “‘I expect you have heard that my beloved Magdalena has been born again into Christ’s everlasting kingdom. Although my wife and I ought to rejoice because of her happy end, yet such is the strength of natural affection that we cannot think of it without sobs and groans which tear the heart apart.

“‘The memory of her face, her words, her expression, in life and in death–everything about our most obedient and loving daughter lingers in our hearts so that even the death of Christ (and what are all deaths compared to His?) is almost powerless to lift our minds above our loss. “‘So would you give thanks to God in our stead? For hasn’t He honored us greatly in glorifying our child? You know how gentle and sweet she was, how altogether lovely.

“‘Christ be praised who chose her and called her and has now glorified her. I pray God that I and all of us may have such a death, yes and such a life.’

“Luther himself never got over Magdalena’s death. His health deteriorated and he began to regard himself, prematurely perhaps, as an ‘old exhausted man.'” (pp. 66-69)

Somehow, reading about Luther’s reaction to the loss of two daughters made me feel better about my own.

How interesting that, as I contemplated the prevailing attitude of avoidance of death and dying–especially as it relates to safety initiatives, I received the latest issue of a quarterly newsletter which we have been getting for years. The topic: “Biblical Truths About Death and Dying (Part I, Prepare to Meet Your God. Are You Ready?)” by Rodney Lensch.

There is much which I could quote from his essay on the topic, but let me narrow it down to a few thoughts. We are all going to die–one way or another. There is a time to be born and a time to die. Ecclesiastes 2:7

Rod describes the deaths of some of the people he has known and refers to them as,

“. . . a reminder that death comes to believers in [varied and sometimes] surprising ways. Therefore we must be ready at all times, day or night. At the same time we need to claim the promises of long life and responsibly serve God and our neighbor with an eye on heaven as Paul instructs us. We are of good courage, and would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. (2 Corinthians 8:9)”

He also cites sin as the root cause of death as, “Jesus is the only antidote for the problem of sin and death. That being true, let us repent and accept Jesus today and be ready whenever death may knock at our door.”

I will be eternally grateful that Mary and AnnaLeah were ready when death knocked at their door on a day when they did not suspect it. I am comforted by a letter we found after their funeral which Mary had written to herself (meant to be read ten years later) a few weeks before our crash. One of the things she said–and which I will never forget–was that she hoped that she was living every day as if it were her last.

The Bible says that, Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.(Ecclesiastes 7:2) Why is it that Too Often we do not do so? Why do we live and think and act as if we were invincible and invulnerable?

According to Rod Lensch, “One good explanation is that death is like the law of gravity. We recognize its reality but rarely think about it. People generally tend to walk into life with hope and confidence but back into death with uncertainty and fear. So the conspiracy of silence surrounding death continues unabated.”

And, it is this “conspiracy of silence” surrounding death as it relates to crash fatalities that I would like to shatter. I would like to shine a spotlight on these countless unnecessary and preventable deaths and call for change–for safety to become much more than a word that is flippantly tossed around without any real and lasting impact.

Let’s be bold and decisive and circumspectly do the sensible and compassionate thing. Let’s do our part–each one of us–to protect those around us from all harm and danger that they might love and laugh and live their life fully.

This morning, as I was taking a shower, I began singing Amy Grant’s song, “Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs-aiQ9NZ1g

Normally, that song is an encouragement to me. But as I got to the phrase, “Please be near me to the end,” I “lost it” as the memory returned of my girls’ abrupt and premature end to their lives. At one and the same time, it was a comfort that He was indeed near them “to the end” and a great sorrow that their ending had to come in such a way and at such a time–so unnecessarily for me to see and bear in my own lifetime, and for them to miss out on so much more of life, not to mention all the lives now bereft of the love and gifts they so freely shared.

It is at such moments that I cry out, “May there be an end to Too Often, Too Little, Too Late. And may it come quickly.”

25 AnnaLeah Jesus Loves Me 052IMG_4465AnnaLeah’s craft: In my life, Lord, Thy will be done.  AnnaLeah’s last road trip–abruptly ended.

Who are no more with photo

Safety is not a priority

Safety is not a priority 002

Re-examine the Definition of Reckless Driving

Questions About Justice in the State of Georgia

A Mother’s Memories

AnnaLeah’s Statement of Faith 3

Mary’s Baptism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UvtWMh3J8

AnnaLeah’s Confirmation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY393AmtB8E

Mary’s Confirmation Questioning (She was to be confirmed in June 2013.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4KZR1pFa0

AnnaLeah & Mary Are Where They Belong:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8emDfPJyqM

 Farewell to Mary and AnnaLeah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKdHfc_xFY

Rod & Staff on death and dying 1Rod & Staff on death and dying 2

Rod & Staff on death and dying 3Rod & Staff on death and dying 4

Rod & Staff on death and dying 5

 We Rescue, Jesus Saves: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/08/we-rescue-jesus-saves/

 

 

 

New NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind Speaks at the Consumer Federation of America

Truck Safety, , ,

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new Administrator Mark Rosekind spoke on March 13, 2015 at the Consumer Federation of America’s Consumer Assembly.

His Keynote Address was entitled, “NHTSA Priorities and Opportunities: A Two Year Sprint”. Read it here: Mark Rosekind Speech at CFA .