Always in my thoughts. . . forever in our hearts.

AnnaLeah and Mary,

Jerry and I were able to spend some time last week with Sam and Naomi at the cottages on Lake Michigan where our family has enjoyed vacations since Mary was three years-old. Shortly after we arrived, I was overcome with a wave of grief at the thought that here we are where they would no longer ever be again.

Amidst the bittersweet memories, I was able to enjoy the time — what’s not to like about a peaceful time at the shore? The waves crashing. The red hot coals glowing. The wind blowing in the trees. Good fellowship.

In particular though, I was caught up in two memories of Mary and AnnaLeah. The first night, I found a blue ribbon on the beach — buried slightly in the sand and tied to a broken balloon. Of course, it reminded me of the time when Mary — at that very spot in 2010 — had found a Beany Baby Bear on the sand with a green ribbon attached to a balloon.

Later in the week, I found a green ribbon in the sand. So I tied them to a driftwood stick and let them blow in the breeze on the beach.

Also, while there, I noticed that by the “porch swing” was a blooming lilac bush–my favorite spring fragrance. I had never noticed that before because we normally would stay at the cottages the week after Labor Day–when, of course, it wasn’t in bloom. It brought to mind the photos of AnnaLeah which I treasure–sitting in that very swing, looking out at the shore, and building sand castles on the beach.

I put together a Youtube video to capture the essence of the bittersweet memories of AnnaLeah and Mary, which that special place will always evoke in my thoughts and heart.

https://annaleahmary.com/bears-adventure-with-mary/

Trucking Minimum Liability Insurance & Trucker Wages. . .A Facebook Conversation

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

A Facebook Conversation on Trucking Minimum Liability Insurance AND Trucker Wages. . .

Truckers United Just got off the phone with my Congressman’s office. Have all of You made that call yet? Us Capitol switchboard; 202-202-3121
Higher liability insurance is not needed as only 1% of claims today exceed the current $750,000 minimum. Company Drivers, This affects you also!!!

  • Marianne Waldron Karth Please take the time to read what I have to say about liability insurance–after losing 2 daughters, In Memory of AnnaLeah 1995 to 2013 and Mary Lydia Karth 1999 to 2013 AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), in a truck crash. …See More

    Like · Reply · Remove Preview · 2 · 1 hr
  • Truckers United Marianne Waldron Karth, First and foremost, I am Deeply sorry for your loss! I Will take time to better understand your point of view as it is valid! At a glance I noticed that the cost of inflation is part of the reasoning behind the desired liability increase. The FMCSA has also raised certain fines due to inflationary increases. I suppose this would be fine if freight rates kept up with inflation. They have not as there are those who are paying little more today than they were in the 80’s. There are novice Drivers on the road today earning pennies more a mile than I did when I started driving in 89. I have a paycheck stub of an experienced co Driver who in 1978 earned .23.5 cpm. Accounting for inflation, that would be about .80cpm today. 50cpm is very hard to come by today. We have novice Drivers earning .25cpm today. We have mega companies paying their lease Drivers .90cpm + a meager fuel surcharge. The megas cost of operation last year averaged $1.64 a mile. These guys are self insured and they want insurance premiums to go up because it will affect them positively as it strains the rest of us. When I spoke to my Congressman’s office I tried to make them aware that our cost of doing business keep going up up up while our income has been stagnant for 25yrs or more.I think that OOIDA has suggested that a catastrophic fund could and should be set up to handle the the instances that exceed the current minimum. Mamm, I AM sympathetic to your concerns. I am also aware that we Drivers are having to work within a punitive system trying to force safe behavior instead of devising a system that pays Drivers to Be Safe. I do believe that there is an answer to be found if WE Work Together. Maybe I should have said “Higher liability insurance is not needed. We should consider creating a catastrophic fund to address the 1% of claims that exceed the current minimum”. I do appreciate your contacting me.
    Like · Reply · 20 mins
    • Marianne Waldron Karth Thank you for taking time to respond. I don’t think that it is an either/or situation. I am also advocating for improvement in truck driver compensation. I hope to promote sitting-down-together to discuss WIN/WIN solutions. Who profits and who pays the price for the status quo? https://annaleahmary.com/…/driver-sees-wages-synonymous…/

      “Driver sees wages synonymous with trucking safety”
      What is the answer to making sure that truck…
      ANNALEAHMARY.COM
      Like · Remove Preview · 5 mins
    • Marianne Waldron Karth Many “truck safety issues” are social and public health problems and they should be addressed as such so that individuals (Victims & their Loved Ones and Truck Drivers) do not pay the heavy price or bear the entire burden for resolving these issues.
      Truckers United Tilden Curl had written an article that I am vaguely familiar with as it’s been almost a year since I first touched on it. This article pertains to the megas ability to self insure and how that affects freight rates. Tilden and I spoke last Friday but I haven’t had a chance to download the article for review. Once done, I would be happy to share it with you. I only remember that Tilden’s approach made sense to me at the time. Tiden, Allen Smith and I are OOIDA members. Speaking for myself, I don’t believe that OOIDA is the enemy here. We, the membership, are pennies fighting against Dollars that will do whatever it takes to increase their profits. Yes, this is America and that is their right, but at what cost to those like you and me? I only desire that reasonable steps be taken to protect all. Thank you Marianne Waldron Karth
      *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
      Apparently OOIDA says , “…protect the legislation halting FMCSA’s rush to raise insurance requirements.” – See more at: http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=29127#.VW5Vas9Viko
      But this has not been a “rush;” it has been discussed and studied for some time now:  http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Financial-Responsibility-Requirements-Report-Enclosure-FINAL-April%202014.pdf

“Driver sees wages synonymous with trucking safety”

Truck Safety

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.

IMG_4462

 

Truck Drivers: Please make sure your underride (rear impact) guards are in good shape!

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

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!

annual vehicle inspection form

Rebekah photo of crash

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!
Trip North May 2015 153 Trip North May 2015 154 Trip North May 2015 149 Trip North May 2015 044 Trip North May 2015 046 Trip North May 2015 026 Trip North May 2015 027 Trip North May 2015 028 Trip North May 2015 031 Trip North May 2015 032

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.
Trip North May 2015 033 Trip North May 2015 034 Trip North May 2015 035
IMG_4492

Watching over Mary and AnnaLeah. . .

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

Trip North May 2015 138 Trip North May 2015 14198 gertie 29324 gertie 2193Gertie reaching for Mary ...Susanna's film16 AnnaLeah Gertie Peter 00174b Mary Gertie

Minolta DSC

Mary walking fence holding AnnaLeah's hair

56b Mary and Gertie sunflowerWe Rescue Jesus Saves 004Before & After PhotosWe Rescue Jesus Saves 018

Minolta DSC

Gertie Portraits: http://www.thekarths.com/blog/warsawinweddingphotographer/personal/gertiefeature

http://www.thekarths.com/blog/warsaw-in-family-photographer/personal/the-gertie-portraits

Committee Met To Discuss Truck Driver Training: Working Together To Make Roads Safer

Truck Safety

“Driver training committee finds consensus on behind-the-wheel time

By David Tanner, Land Line senior editor

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

“We can and must do better than this at protecting people before profits.” Louis V. Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/business/takata-says-it-will-no-longer-make-side-inflater-linked-to-airbag-defect.html?ref=business&_r=0

“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.careforcrashvictims.com/blog-nhtsaexec2004.php

We can and must do better than this at protecting people before profits.”

Louis V. Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims

Rebekah photo of crash

To the Tiger at the Zoo…Mary would have said, “Pooh, pooh!”

AnnaLeah and Mary

Jerry and I just got back from a Trip North and got a chance to go to a zoo with Sam & Naomi. Mary would have loved it. Mary enjoyed zoos. She would have been taking pictures of the noisy tiger.

(Wish she could have. . .)


http://youtu.be/iVaAdxnsOWA

AnnaLeah & Mary… “They are where they belong.” May 18, 2013

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety

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:

“Where have all the flowers gone?” When will we ever learn? (A truck crash ballad)

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

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

Sunflower house 003 Sunflower house 001 56b Mary and Gertie sunflower

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.

Sunflower house 007
A sunflower seed made it through the germination phase.

Sunflowers 035
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. . .

Mary kids Gertie

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.