See recent Public Comments to NHTSA. You, too, can speak up to end preventable truck underride.

Truck Safety, , ,

You, too, can let NHTSA know what you want them to do about the problem of preventable truck side underride. In addition to signing the Side Guard Petition which we have launched online, you can also post a comment directly to NHTSA on the Federal Register.

Although the official Public Comment period is closed, comments will still be posted and taken into consideration by NHTSA, as they have not yet put together a Final Rule on truck underride protection.

I have received notifications the last few days regarding new postings to the Federal Register of Public Comments from people asking DOT/NHTSA to mandate side guards! I am assuming that this is in response to my request for people to do so to help bring about change. 🙂 See the recent Public Comments here:

You can do it, too! SUBMIT a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.

Don’t forget to sign the Side Guard PETITION

Center for Auto Safety seeks Exec. Dir. to replace the late Clarence Ditlow’s work in auto safety advocacy.

Safety Advocacy, , ,

The Center for Auto Safety is seeking an individual to replace the late Clarence Ditlow’s important work in auto safety advocacy.

Safety leaders gathered in January to honor the more than 40 years of work by Clarence M. Ditlow III in saving millions of Americans from death and injuries from vehicle violence. Joan Claybrook announced a goal of raising $5 million to continue Clarence’s work at the Center for Auto Safety (CAS).1

In a brief video Clarence, introduced by Ralph Nader, summarized his successful strategy to advance safety and consumer protection by establishing legal rights and remedies for the people and the legal profession. . . 

The Center for Auto Safety is seeking an Executive Director

The job description reveals some of what Clarence did and what it took to accomplish.

Clarence is irreplaceable, but his work leaves a legacy of what to do to defend the American people against future vehicle violence. His pioneering work points to how to achieve further advances in safety and justice.

Doing Our Part

The American people need us to help grow a network of lawyers, crash victims (past, present, and future) and survivors, and consumer advocates to help fund and advance Clarence’s work. The stories of crash victims and their families need to be heard and heeded. To be heeded our voices need to be organized for effectiveness.

Think of a network of people who join together to continue Clarence’s work to stop the currently endless tragedies. We can help organize to build a more just and safer America.4

Send checks payable to the Ditlow Fund for Auto Safety using the Pledge form. Suggested donations: $35 to $5,000.

Center for Auto Safety’s Ditlow Fund Networking to Save Lives, by Lou Lombardo, Legal Reader, February 13, 2017

Cover of Car Safety Wars by Michael Lemov

The battles are not finished; the work for safer roads must continue.

Electronic Log Books Not The Whole Answer; A Tired Trucker Roundtable Is Vital

Truck Safety, ,

Source: https://www.facebook.com/twistedtruckers/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/494507530713925/permalink/795767523921256/

I am convinced that we need to bring together multiple stakeholders around the table to discuss Tired Truckers. We need to work together to tackle this problem.

 

The murderous potential of vehicles & apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads

Safety Advocacy, , ,

When searching for Tweets with the hashtag #roadsafety — which by the way seems to be more commonly mentioned outside of the U.S. — I ran across some interesting articles:

  • The rules of the road exist to keep us safe. Why aren’t we enforcing them? by  A motorway collision with a lorry showed me how easy it is for disaster to strike – and raised my fear that excessive risk has been normalised. . . So, while you could argue that its road safety record allows the UK to coast awhile, you might also think about the two recent court cases and whether we pay due regard to the murderous potential of our vehicles. And then you might reasonably ask whether, with more rigorous enforcement, not only those serious accidents that have made the news could have been avoided, but also the many more minor ones such as ours. And who is best served by the apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads.
  • These Two Women Designed A 3D Zebra Crossing In Gujarat And It’s One Of A Kind! by  SOUVIK RAY Artists Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya from Ahmedabad designed something innovative that not only serves an artistic purpose but ensures road safety for pedestrians. The motto was to increase the attention of drivers through new flat patterns of Zebra Crossings.

“EU transport ministers back ‘ambitious’ vehicle safety improvements”

Safety Advocacy, , ,

EU transport ministers back ‘ambitious’ vehicle safety improvements, February 10, 2017, European Transport Safety Council

Eight EU transport ministers have called on the European Commission to ‘speed up’ plans to upgrade vehicle safety standards saying road safety should be ‘top priority’.

In a letter to the European Commissioner for industry Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the transport ministers of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands said ‘ambitious’ new vehicle safety standards are needed ‘to help Member States halve the number of road deaths by 2020’. . .

In December 2016, the European Commission published a list of 19 lifesaving safety technologies that could be made mandatory on new vehicles in proposals expected later in 2017.  At the time, the European Transport Safety Council said several critical areas for action are missing, and the proposed timescale is far too long considering that most of the technologies are already available today.

What about the United States?

Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?

Safety Advocacy, , ,

The refusal of the federal government (White House and legislators) to respond to my requests for Vision Zero Rulemaking is negligent and indicative of a less-than-wholehearted commitment to a Vision of Moving Toward Zero Crash Deaths and Serious Injuries.

It’s a simple conclusion to arrive at: the lack of Vision Zero Rulemaking is responsible for the blocking and delay of many safety measures. If those safety measures had been implemented in a timely and compassionate fashion, countless lives would have been saved.

Who should we hold responsible?

Some posts related to that life & death question:

  1. Who should bear the responsibility for deaths & injuries due to known safety defects?
  2. Does a vehicle manufacturer bear responsibility for death and injury caused by a safety defect in their product?
  3. Each time a layer of apparent deception is peeled away, I am incensed at what seems like betrayal.
  4. What IS the government’s Vision Zero policy? Zero Deaths or Zero Jail Time?
  5. When will we figure out that somebody’s getting away with murder?
  6. Will the Road to Zero (Crash Deaths) include significant criminal penalties for corporate negligence?
  7. “Anton Yelchin’s Death Highlights a Known Issue With Jeeps”. . . NY Times & Care for Crash Victims
  8. Actor’s Death is Latest Example of Need for a National Vision Zero Goal & Traffic Safety Ombudsman
  9. “Power of Presidents to Protect People” (Legal Reader)
  10. Political Record on Vehicle Violence; #RepublicanConvention Theme: Make America Safe Again. Really?
  11. As Ralph Nader is inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, are cars “still unsafe at any speed”?
  12. “Power of People to Protect People” Lou Lombardo, Legal Reader
  13. “Money At Root of Takata’s Tragic History”
  14. Draft Dem. Platform: “Ensure Health & Safety…Gun Violence Prevention” But NOT Vehicle Violence
  15. Party Platforms Strangely Silent: Gun violence gets attention, though toll lower than vehicle violence
  16. Careless Attitudes Can Contribute to Unnecessary Deaths
  17. Is Cost/Benefit Analysis Appropriate for Life & Death Matters? Were their lives worth saving?
  18. Somebody, please get me an audience with President Obama to respond to my Vision Zero Petition!
  19. Truck Trailer Manufacturers Ass’n “Reminds” NHTSA: Side Guards Are “Not Cost-Effective” Says Who?
  20. What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?
  21. Side Underride Deaths Need To Be Addressed Now; To do otherwise would be negligent & unconscionable.
  22. Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?

Imagine an Executive Order propelling us toward zero crash deaths. What are we waiting for?

Side Underride Deaths Need To Be Addressed Now; To do otherwise would be negligent & unconscionable.

Safety Advocacy, , , ,

Would the current freeze on federal rulemaking mean that there could be no action taken to initiate side underride protection [side guards] rulemaking? It is my understanding that rulemaking related to health and safety is allowable. And, in fact, side guards have already been included in multiple communications related to current rulemaking on underride guards for commercial motor vehicles:

  1. The underride rulemaking on rear guards on trailers is still open, not completed. They have previously told me that, even though the official Public Comment is closed, they will take into consideration other comments which they receive after that period.
  2. It fits under President Trump’s category of not-new rulemaking.
  3. They have already received our petition on May 5, 2014, which included a request for side guards: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-guards-rear-impact-protection ” 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.”
  4. Other people have mentioned side guards in their Public Comment when the ANPRM and NPRM on underride guards were issued in July 2014 and December 2015, respectively. https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0070-0013 and https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0070-0035
  5. We have, in fact, submitted a Comprehensive Consensus Underride Petition to NHTSA via this Public Comment process. So they know that we want side guards addressed as well: https://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Comprehensive-Underride-Consensus-Petition-Letter-to-DOT.pdf
  6. Here is the Clarification of the requests in that Comprehensive Underride Petition: http://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Clarification-of-the-Comprehensive-Underride-Consensus-Petition.pdf IT INCLUDES SIDE GUARDS.
  7. I personally submitted a comment specifically about side guards: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0039
  8. NHTSA, as far as I know, can re-write the current rulemaking —  based upon feedback which they receive —  to produce a Final Rule.

I don’t know if additional comments submitted at this time would get posted to the Federal Register online, but it is my understanding that NHTSA would receive them.

Besides which, this conversation was well underway as far back as 1969, and the victims of side underride crashes — past, present, and future — deserve to have this issue addressed here and now. To do otherwise would be negligent and unconscionable.

Oh, wait! What does that say about what we have already allowed to happen?

If the Side Underride Problem Makes You Mad, Here Are 5 Ways To Be A Part of the Solution

Truck Safety,

If you watch the Today Show’s investigative report on truck SIDE UNDERIDE, you will discover that the federal government does not require side guards on large trucks. And trailer manufacturers do not install them on the trailers they produce.

NBC News article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/side-underride-crashes-kill-200-people-year-will-congress-act-n711721

 That might make you a little bit mad, so here are 5 ways you can put that frustration to work to help bring about change:
 
+ Sign our Side Guard Petition here to let our government & trucking industry leaders know that you want them to act NOW to SAVE LIVES by putting side guards on large trucks. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/251/762/472/end-deadly-side-underride-crashes-mandate-side-guards-on-large-trucks/
 
+ Submit a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here. https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.
 
+ Write to the 8 major trailer manufacturers.Tell them that you want them to put side guards on the trailers which they produce and sell to trucking companies. You can find their contact information here. https://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Contact-Information-for-Major-Trailer-Manufacturers-1.pdf
 
+ Support side guard research projects, which will help get affordable and effective side guards on the market. Donate here. https://www.fortrucksafety.com/
 
+ Contact your legislators here. https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

February 13, 2017 Update: I just received a notification of a new posting to the Federal Register of a Public Comment from someone asking DOT/NHTSA to mandate side guards! I am assuming that someone responded to my request for people to do so to help bring about change. 🙂

See it here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2015-0118-0049 Actually, a second person also submitted a comment.

You can do it, too! SUBMIT a Public Comment to DOT/NHTSA here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NHTSA-2015-0118 After you get to this site, click on the COMMENT NOW button.

What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?

Truck Safety, , , , ,

Yesterday, Ronan Farrow reported that members of of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee received $9,187,124 in campaign contributions in the 2016 cycle from the Transportation Sector.

See it for yourself here:

Ronan asked, “Why does it take so long to move the needle on this, when people are dying every year?” See what former head of NHTSA, Joan Claybrook, had to say about that:

What if trucking industry campaign contributions went toward safety research & implementation instead?

How much closer would we be to Zero Truck Crash Fatalities?

The trucking industry needs to answer the same question which Senator Robert Kennedy posed to GM in 1965. I’d like to ask them,

  • “What was your profit in 2016?”
  • “And how much money did you spend on safety research in 2016?”

I’d really like to know the answers — not just for 2016 but for many years before as well. Because I’m not willing to compromise. There are too many shattered families, broken hearts, and lives ended far too soon.

Sign the Petition: End Deadly Truck Side Underride Crashes: Mandate Side Guards

Then, SHARE it.

Find out how you can DONATE to Underride Research HERE. Make a difference

Today Show’s Investigation Of Deadly Truck Underride Generates Long-Overdue Nat’l Conversation

Truck Safety,

Ronan Farrow started a national conversation this morning about deadly truck side underride with his investigative report on The Today Show:

And here’s the NBC News article from that report: Side Underride Crashes Kill 200 People a Year. Will Congress Act?, by RONAN FARROW, RICH MCHUGH and TRACY CONNOR, 2/7/17

That got the ball rolling. Here are some other mentions of that investigation:

  1. Huffington Post: Remember That Fatal Tesla Crash? Politicians Might Be Partly To Blame.
  2. The Hill: Report: Trucking lobby resisting mandatory safety devices

Join the conversation. Let your voice be heard. Sign the Side Guard Petition: End Deadly Truck Side Underride Crashes: Mandate Side Guards

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