Sometimes it seems like it is just too much to tackle — trying to do everything we can to protect our loved ones. But there is so much which can be done to prevent unnecessary tragedies — especially if we all pull together to do so. How could we walk away and leave anything undone?
Please pray for a multitude of details to come together to bring about Aaron Kiefer’s SIDE GUARD Crash Test on January 20, 2017. It seems like an insurmountable mountain and a shortage of time & resources. Time to speak to that mountain. . .
Specific Need: If anyone knows a truck owner, who would be interested in helping out with his/her tractor on January 20, please point ’em in my direction!
Partner with us to bring about a crash test of Aaron Kiefer’s life-saving truck side guard on January 20, 2017. We have thought of a way that you could participate in the production & testing of his latest professional-grade prototype.
We want to know if you would like to receive a specially-designed T-shirt — with Mary & AnnaLeah in mind — for a donation to this UNDERRIDE RESEARCH PROJECT/Crash Test:
You would receive a shirt like this for a minimum $20 donation:
IJK Interactive
You would receive a shirt like this for a minimum $25 donation:
IJK Interactive
We are trying to figure out if we should move ahead with this T-shirt project. Another upcoming T-shirt design will be Christopher. Please let us know if you might like to have one of these shirts to support our underride research efforts in memory of AnnaLeah & Mary.
HOW WE CAME UP WITH THE Christopher & Bono LOGOS:
Aaron Kiefer is making great progress on the development of his innovative side/rear guard for large trucks. Recently, he asked me if I would like to create a logo for the rear aluminum attachment piece of it which will attach to existing rear underride guards — thus strengthening them to better be able to prevent rear underride — and to which the side guard portion attaches.
So I sat down with my family to brainstorm ideas for a logo. A couple of years ago, we had done the same thing to come up with a name and logo for our non-profit organization:
design by Isaac Karth, IJK Interactive
Aaron already calls his invention — which uniquely provides continuous protection around the side and rear of trailers — the TrailerGuard System.
In our brainstorming, we decided that we could call the side portion of his life-saving invention the Christopher Guard for the patron saint/advocate of travelers — keeping in mind AnnaLeah’s dragon and calling it Christopher, who would guard against sure death (my idea).
And we could call the rear attachment portion — which is designed to attach to the existing rear guard (making it more likely to prevent the guillotine effect of truck underride) — the Bono Guard for the patron saint, Beuno or Bono (Latin, bonus = good), known for the protection of children — using the image of Mary’s St. Bernard Gertie (my idea).
Aaron’s invention:
See a crash test of Aaron’s original version of his TrailerSafe System in the Spring of 2016:
I don’t have the answer to this technical question; I hope someone figures it out before it is too late for someone else.
NHTSA has extended Public Comment Period to February 16, 2017 on the question of whether nonconforming model year (MY) 2013 and 2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta passenger cars (PCs) are eligible for importation into the United States.
On December 7, 2016, NHTSA published a notice (at 81 FR 88318) that it had received a petition to decide that nonconforming model year (MY) 2013 and 2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta passenger cars (PCs) are eligible for importation into the United States. The notice solicited public comments on the petition and stated that the closing date for comments is January 6, 2017.
This is to notify the public that NHTSA is extending the comment period on this petition, and allowing it to run until February 6, 2017. This extension is based on a request dated December 21, 2016, from Ferrari North America, Inc., and Ferrari SpA, (collectively “Ferrari”) the vehicle’s manufacturer. Ferrari stated that in its view an extension was needed because a portion of the comment period will be lost due to the holidays (during which time Ferrari SpA’s facilities will be closed), and because of the complexity of the technical analysis necessary to evaluate the petition and prepare any comments. Ferrari requests this extension especially with regard to FMVSS No. 208 conformance—in particular, the passenger-side airbag weight sensing system.
Ferrari also stated its view that an extension of the comment period will not prejudice the parties or cause undue delay, but will afford Ferrari the opportunity to fully evaluate the petition in order to determine the appropriate content of any Ferrari comments.
NHTSA has granted Ferrari’s request. All comments received before the close of business on the closing date indicated above will be considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be considered. Notice of final action on the petition will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
Four groups have petitioned the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to reconsider provisions of the Final Rule for Entry-Level Driver requirements, which the agency issued on December 7.
The final rule does not include a requirement for 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training for new drivers. Last March, FCMSA had included in its proposed rule a minimum of 10 hours of training on a “driving range” as well as an unspecified amount of time driving on a public road. The final rule requires no behind-the-wheel standard for student drivers, instead deferring to skills tests administered by state licensing agencies. The petition notes that under the new rule, the determination of whether a student driver has the skill set required to operate safely on public roadways is “entirely in the hands of the instructor.”
The petition was filed by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the Truck Safety Coalition and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways on December 21.
It only makes sense that we would want someone driving a large truck at 70 miles an hour on the road with much smaller vehicles to have adequate practice. Doesn’t it?
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of petition and decision granting partial relief.
SUMMARY: On May 16, 2016, TK Holdings Inc. (Takata) filed a defect information report (DIR), in which it determined that a defect existed in certain passenger-side air bag inflators that it manufactured, including passenger inflators that it supplied to General Motors, LLC (GM) for use in certain GMT900 vehicles. GM has petitioned the Agency for a decision that, because of differences in inflator design and vehicle integration, the equipment defect determined to exist by Takata is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety in the GMT900 vehicles, and that GM should therefore be relieved of its notification and remedy obligations.
DATES: The closing date for comments is September 14, 2017.
I just saw the schedule for the 2016 Protection of Children in Cars conference held in Munich every year. It sounds like an important event.
I wonder if they ever talk about the need to protect children from truck underride injuries and deaths. If they did, maybe improving underride prevention strategies would become a higher priority. Maybe it would tip the cost/benefit analysis scale a bit more decisively in favor of saving lives.
I just did my morning reading as I ate my breakfast and ran across the word expropriation. I decided to look it up and found its meaning peculiarly and disturbingly relevant to my passion for traffic safety.
Expropriation: (from Wikipedia) The process of expropriation “occurs when a public agency (for example, the provincial government and its agencies, regional districts, municipalities, school boards, post-secondary institutions and utilities) takes private property for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest“.
Is that what happens when a cost/benefit analysis is interpreted in favor of the economic interest of society/industry over the value of saving human lives: Our government (on behalf of We the People) sacrifices human lives for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest?
Equal Justice For All, Legal Reader, artist Neal Angeles
‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 45:9
I follow the dad of a distracted driving victim on Twitter. And on December 15, at the Road to Zero Coalition meeting in Arlington, VA, I met someone from North Carolina who has been working with Vijay Dixit to reach some of his goals — like making distracted driving taboo. Over and over, he shared with me how he has been inspired by Vijay.
After losing his daughter, Shreya, due to distracted driving, Vijay has been actively working toward that goal and now has a book in print to make that point: One Split Second.
“Building Distraction-free Driving Communities, One Driver at a Time”
I would echo that mission statement and add the other traffic safety issues as well –including driver behaviors, vehicle safety, crash avoidance technologies, and safer infrastructure — which could all contribute to preventing tragic loss of life.
“‘He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?’ declares the LORD.
“For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted also, & him who has no helper.
He will have compassion on the poor & needy,
And the lives of the needy he will save.
He will rescue their life from oppression & violence;
And their blood will be precious in his sight.”
Jeremiah 22:16 and Psalm 72:12-14
I am thankful that the Department of Transportation took action to end this man’s ability to endanger us. I remain concerned about how many other medical certificates might be questionable and contribute to unsafe driving conditions. Who do you think will pay the price?
In our case, the medical certificate for the truck driver was never found. Yet, as far as I know, nothing was ever done to address that fact. How many more might there be like that — not discovered until it was too late?
ATLANTA – Dr. Anthony Lefteris, 71, of Atlanta, was indicted today by a federal grand jury, on charges that he prepared false documents and entered false information into the records of the U.S. Department of Transportation so that commercial truck drivers could obtain their licenses. Lefteris will be arraigned at a later date.
“It is critical that commercial vehicle drivers are physically fit to handle the rigors of driving commercial vehicles, such as tractor trailer trucks,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn. “When a medical examiner fails to perform the duties entrusted to them or falsifies information, our roads and highways are less safe, putting all drivers at risk.”
“Today’s indictment of Dr. Anthony Lefteris demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General to pursuing fraudulent activities by medical professionals in the motor carrier industry who are willing to compromise the safety of the traveling public for personal gain,” said Marlies Gonzalez, regional Special Agent-in-Charge for the USDOT OIG. “Working with our departmental, law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will continue to pursue and detect fraudulent schemes and bring to justice those seeking to compromise the integrity of DOT’s safety programs. . .
“Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
