4 women dead, 4 injured in limo T-boned by pick-up.
Does the manufacturer of the limo, not equipped with seat belts for all riders, bear any responsibility for their deaths?
ABC US News | World News
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“On the Road: Routine Taps Performance Brings Town to a Halt”
Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.
Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing near
Falls the night.
Thanks and praise for our days
Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars’, ‘neath the sky’
As we go, this we know
God is nigh.
TAPS
words: Horace Lorenzo Trim
tune: Daniel Butterfield
May His peace that passes all understanding guard your hearts & minds. . . no matter what you are going through.
(Photo courtesy The Karths: http://www.thekarths.com/blog/)
To Auto Industry: Consumers DO Care About Safety; Thanks, Scion, for choosing SAFETY over PROFIT!
The automotive industry has been saying for years that consumers don’t care about safety. What do they know?!
Read about this decision by one automotive maker to include a “precollision braking system worthy of a pricey German sedan” in one of their new affordable cars. http://ht.ly/PeGOb
“The prevailing wisdom is that ‘young people don’t care’ about safety, said Murtha. ‘But surprisingly when we researched this stuff, they did glom on to [precollision technology]. They saw value in it.'”
Thank you, Scion, for choosing SAFETY over PROFIT!
Michael Lemov challenges the myth that consumers do not care about safety which has been perpetuated since the beginning of the automotive industry:
Progress in Truck Driver Training Requirements
I have not written much thus far about CDL training requirements, but I am glad to report that there seems to be progress in improving standards.
Who would not want the truck drivers, who spend their working hours on the road with us all, to be adequately trained?
Should an owner of a Toyota Camry be worried about a repeat episode of SUA?
So, if you own a Toyota Camry and you had a problem with sudden unintended acceleration, should you be worried that it might happen again–even though you paid $1,300 to have it repaired?
No recall listed for that problem for a 1996 Toyota Camry. . .
http://www.safetyresearch.net/blog/articles/sudden-unintended-acceleration
http://www.arfc.org/complaints/1996/toyota/camry/
http://www.arfc.org/complaints/1996/toyota/camry/vehicle_speed_control/problem.aspx
Will my son and his family
be at risk for future episodes of sudden unintended acceleration?
Give NHTSA $ it needs to oversee auto safety efforts; & Value of a Statistical Life
Care for Crash Victims shared this perspective on whether NHTSA needs more money to do its job in auto safety oversight:
June 17, 2015
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
The Detroit News reports:
“In a notice sent to Senate offices late Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee said it will hold a June 23 hearing titled, “Update on the Recalls of Defective Takata Air Bags and NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Efforts.”….
The committee’s chairman, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said in a Detroit News interview last week he is considering legislative proposals to reform NHTSA, but said he is still not convinced the auto safety agency needs more funding.
Thune said “the White House has not been very visible” on the NHTSA request for more funding.
In an interview Tuesday, Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he hasn’t made any decisions about whether he will propose auto safety legislation. He backed an amendment to the House Transportation budget last week that would add $4 million to NHTSA’s budget.
“We want to make sure that (NHTSA) is able to deliver,” Upton said.” See
How does $4 million compare with the DOT Policy Guidance value of a statistical life? [In 2013, that value was $9.1 million. VSL Guidance-2013-2 DOT value of life As of June 17, 2015 it was $9.4 million. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/VSL2015_0.pdf ]
How does $4 million compare with 32,675 Americans dying of crash injuries in 2014? That value would be nearly $300 Billion in 2014. And that includes zero dollars for an estimated 2 million Americans injured each year. See http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/
Hopefully, the American people will make sure that Congress delivers safety — not just a few more dollars. Here in America, please!
Lou Lombardo
Tonight my son’s Toyota Camry had unintended acceleration: safe but frazzled
My son was on his way to Durham tonight– a 1 1/2 hr. drive–for a professional meet-up with other programmers. His wife got a call to come and help him. Before he made it out of town, his accelerator went out of control. Fortunately his brakes functioned well and he was able to stop–in the middle of the street in busy rush hour traffic.
We are thankful it happened before he got on the expressway and that there was no crash involved, no injuries. But, despite many other 1996 Toyota Camrys which have experienced similar problems, there are apparently no recalls listed prior to 1999 for that model with that problem.
As soon as I heard what had happened, I started searching for his model online:
- http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas/toyota-acceleration-problems-new-evidence-imprisoned-minnesota-toyota-camry-owner/story?id=9903455
- http://trulinespublishing.com/2015/01/15/1996-camry-defect-design-revealed-u-s-federal-court-today-1-14-15/
- http://trulinespublishing.com/2015/02/11/toyota-settlement-faqs-shocking-info-re-electronic-throttle-settlementcriminal-charges/
- http://trulinespublishing.com/2015/02/08/another-toyota-camry-suddenly-accelerates-loses-braking-power/
That reminded me of the book which I recently finished, Car Safety Wars by Michael Lemov:
“Car Safety Wars is a gripping history of the hundred-year struggle to improve the safety of American automobiles and save lives on the highways. Described as the “equivalent of war” by the Supreme Court, the battle involved the automobile industry, unsung and long-forgotten safety heroes, at least six US Presidents, a reluctant Congress, new auto technologies, and, most of all, the mindset of the American public: would they demand and be willing to pay for safer cars? The “Car Safety Wars” were at first won by consumers and safety advocates. The major victory was the enactment in 1966 of a ground breaking federal safety law. The safety act was pushed through Congress over the bitter objections of car manufacturers by a major scandal involving General Motors, its private detectives, Ralph Nader, and a gutty cigar-chomping old politician. The act is a success story for government safety regulation. It has cut highway death and injury rates by over seventy percent in the years since its enactment, saving more than two million lives and billions of taxpayer dollars.
But the car safety wars have never ended. GM has recently been charged with covering up deadly defects resulting in multiple ignition switch shut offs. Toyota has been fined for not reporting fatal unintended acceleration in many models. Honda and other companies have—for years—sold cars incorporating defective air bags. These current events, suggesting a failure of safety regulation, may serve to warn us that safety laws and agencies created with good intentions can be corrupted and strangled over time.
This book suggests ways to avoid this result, but shows that safer cars and highways are a hard road to travel. We are only part of the way home.”
http://www.amazon.com/Car-Safety-Wars-Technology-Politics/dp/161147745X
Having read Michael Lemov’s book, Car Safety Wars, I am not the least bit surprised–just all the more motivated to share what I have learned from this book and to do my part in speaking out for decisions and actions reflective of a safety-minded perspective.
In fact, you have not heard the last from me about this book.
Note: I temporarily made this post private until I could verify with my son what his mechanic told him. Apparently, something (possibly an oil leak or some damage due to a blown tire a month or so ago) caused the sensor for the accelerator to go awry and thus the Sudden Unintended Acceleration that he experienced. The mechanic was able to repair the throttle. (I don’t fully understand this.)
We were thinking that it sounded like it was maybe a different issue than what we have been reading about. But is it? My son was on a city street and not going very fast so that he was able to brake safely (though the accelerator was still trying to keep going). Perhaps if he had been on the expressway and going faster, he might not have been able to stop safely. ?????
My son said that maybe there was a design flaw in that the accelerator flaw was perhaps too easily impacted by oil leaking, etc. Is that a manufacturing defect? I don’t know. What if he had died as a result or killed someone else?
Marianne Karth, June 17, 2015
Update: I continue to see news reports of cases of SUA, e.g., http://www.streetsblog.org/2015/10/01/cab-driver-who-ran-over-kids-on-bronx-sidewalk-blames-car/ What if things had turned out differently with my son? What is the truth of the matter?
October 1, 2015
How Many Recalls Does It Take to Fix a Toyota?
Update (May 19, 2016): This article just posted:
Court rules lawsuit against Toyota for deadly New Mexico crash can move forward https://t.co/UxE01KKbPP https://t.co/lCzL6NJZd8
— Marianne Karth (@MaryandAnnaLeah) May 20, 2016
Speaking Out at a Press Conference Today in Raleigh: Standing Up For Safer Roads
As I am preparing to speak at a press conference in Raleigh today at 11 a.m. in support of needed actions on truck safety, I am reflecting on my morning Bible reading. I ran across the word exceedingly and it reminded me of two other places where I recall reading that word:
- Today reading in Jonah…he went to prophesy to the city of Nineveh, which was exceedingly great.
- Also in Ezekiel 37:10, where God was fixin’ to raise up an exceedingly great army of His people.
- And also in Ephesians 3:20 where God says that He will use His people by His power to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or even think.
The problems in truck safety are exceedingly abundant and the opposition against safety measures are also exceedingly powerful, but I have an exceedingly great God that I am calling upon to bring about needed changes to make the roads safer for us all.
Looking for an exceedingly great outcry. . .
Time is Short: Comment Now on Proposed Rule to Raise Minimum Liability Insurance for Trucking
(Photo courtesy Georgia State Patrol, May 4, 2013)
Don’t take my word for it (alone); examine the issue and decide for yourself. Time is short to make a public comment on a federal regulation to raise the minimum liability insurance for trucking companies. FMCSA already has the responsibility and authority to set these limits; they simply have not raised them (for inflation) for over 30 years.
See what you think of this comment on the Federal Register:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-1596 : I am a 1 truck leased Owner Operator. I have over a million miles safe driving without a single recordable accident.
It appears greed is trying to enter into my life again, by means of greedy lawyers trying to get more money from insurances that myself and my company pay for. All the companies I’ve ever worked with and worked for have ALWAYS requested and received safety and driving records prior to hiring or leasing me or my equipment. So if I was unsafe or going to be a large financial risk I would be turned down for employment. I don’t see any reason to raise current insurance coverage. Being there is a very very small percent of incidences that would require anymore insurance than I already have. The needless financial burden this would put on myself and my company would more than likely put me out of business and out of the trucking industry for good. I have no way to pass this extra cost on to my customers. For they would not understand or agree to pay for a rate increase do to my liability costs. My trucking business relationships don’t and never will function this way. This goes back to my previous statement of being employed because I’m safe and not a huge financial risk. The second I have astronomical rate increases will portray me to be a larger financial risk.
Also, who would pay for something they will never come close to using. The shear amount of destruction that would have to occur to even come close to using such a policy amount is very small. So small that it would never happen to and never does happen to the very large majority of trucking operations.
Please use knowledge and good sense to turn down these proposed increases.
In contrast, read these comments:
- http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-1584
- http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-1637
- http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FMCSA-2014-0211-1512
According to our research, the fears of astronomical increases in premiums are unfounded. In addition, the attitude shown in these comments is disturbing to someone who knows all too well the devastation that comes from being part of that small percentage of tragedies that you never really thought would touch you.
The changes which this rule would bring about will not have any bearing on our truck crash which occurred on May 4, 2013. But I am convinced that this rule is vitally important for countless truck crashes which will occur in the days and years ahead.
Public Comments must be submitted by February 26, 2015. Go here and click the Green Button, Submit a Formal Comment: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/11/28/2014-28076/financial-responsibility-for-motor-carriers-freight-forwarders-and-brokers
You can read all of the Public Comments here (and can search for your own comment with the Search function, after it gets posted): http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=100;so=DESC;sb=docId;po=0;dct=PS;D=FMCSA-2014-0211
Marijuana Impairs Judgment, Reaction Times, & Awareness
What will be the impact of increased use of marijuana on road safety?
NHTSA recently commented on this question ( http://ht.ly/IDHau ) :
“. . . even as drinking and driving continues to fall, use of illegal drugs or medicines that can affect road safety is climbing. The number of weekend nighttime drivers with evidence of drugs in their system climbed from 16.3 percent in 2007 to 20 percent in 2014. The number of drivers with marijuana in their system grew by nearly 50 percent.
A second survey, the largest of its kind ever conducted, assessed whether marijuana use by drivers is associated with greater risk of crashes. The survey found that marijuana users are more likely to be involved in accidents, but that the increased risk may be due in part because marijuana users are more likely to be in groups at higher risk of crashes. In particular, marijuana users are more likely to be young men – a group already at high risk.
This was the most precisely controlled study of its kind yet conducted, but it measured the risk associated with marijuana at the levels found among drivers in a large community. Other studies using driving simulators and test tracks have found that marijuana at sufficient dosage levels will affect driver risk.
‘Drivers should never get behind the wheel impaired, and we know that marijuana impairs judgment, reaction times and awareness,’ said Jeff Michael, NHTSA’s associate administrator for research and program development. ‘These findings highlight the importance of research to better understand how marijuana use affects drivers so states and communities can craft the best safety policies.’
The study, conducted in Virginia Beach, Va., gathered data over a 20-month period from more than 3,000 drivers who were involved in crashes, as well as a comparison group of 6,000 drivers who did not crash. The study found that drivers who had been drinking above the 0.08 percent legal limit had about 4 times the risk of crashing as sober drivers and those with blood alcohol levels at 0.15 percent or higher had 12 times the risk.
NHTSA plans a series of additional studies to further understand the risk of drugged driving, including the Washington State Roadside Survey, which will assess risk in a state where marijuana has recently been legalized, and a simulator study with the National Institute on Drug Abuse to assess how drivers under the influence of drugs behave behind the wheel.”
More sources:
- http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/does-marijuana-use-affect-driving “Marijuana significantly impairs judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time, and studies have found a direct relationship between blood THC concentration and impaired driving ability…
- http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-293 “…state officials identified limited public awareness about the dangers of drugged driving as a challenge. As a result, members of the public may drive while impaired without knowing the risks, potentially leading to collisions, injuries, and fatalities…”
- http://ades.bc.ca/Drug_facts/marijuana.html ”
- altered perception of time, distance, space, sights, sounds and touch
- impaired judgment and decision making
- loss of coordination and slowed reaction time
- disorientation”
(Photo is of our car hit by a truck and pushed under another truck; marijuana was not cited as a cause, but truck driver fatigue might have been a factor which also impairs driving reaction times.)
