Crash Test of Innovative Large Truck Side Guard Could Advance Side Underride Prevention

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Crash reconstructionist/forensic engineer Aaron Kiefer continues to develop his ideas for an innovative side/rear underride guard to protect all vulnerable victims from deadly truck underride.

Aaron has identified new materials to make his design stronger, more effective at preventing underride, and user-friendly for the truck drivers. The only thing is that he is doing this work on his own time aside from his regular job of reconstructing crash scenes. He turned to us to ask if we could help him raise some money for his upcoming side guard crash test so that he can prove that his invention will save lives.

You can help Aaron purchase the necessary materials for his next crash test. Our current goal is to raise $3,000* by early next year.

Donate at the ALMFTS website here which our family set up for traffic safety research through our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety.

We received our IRS letter of approval in 2015 and are listed as a non-profit with Guidestar: http://www.guidestar.org/profile/47-4379503

support-sideguard-research

* Crash Test Materials Include the Following:

  • $500 would buy the necessary polyester webbing  (12,000 lb/in), which gives Aaron’s invention unusual strength.
  • $500 more would buy the car to crash —  a Malibu
  • $500 more would buy the rear reinforcement aluminum plate and water jet cutting
  • $500 more would allow Aaron to purchase the aluminum extrusion for reinforcement/rear guard connector
  • $500 additional would pay for the FRP panel (2 x 190 ft rolls). Just today, Aaron had a sample of this plastic panel successfully sewn together with the polyester webbing — a good sign that this design, with these materials, could provide a strong innovative option for side underride protection on large trucks for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and passenger vehicles.
  • $3,000 TOTAL would allow Aaron to purchase the entire CRASH TEST SET: Panel/webbing/aluminum/assembly/labor (industrial sewing)

Please share this post so others can join in this vital effort to make affordable and effective side guards available to the trucking industry. Thank you!

“Tactical Transit: A Fast Path to Transit Infrastructure”; How about Tactical Traffic Safety?

Safety Advocacy, ,

We humans are innately creative. Surely we can come up with innovative ways to prevent permanent devastation from vehicle violence. Here’s a perspective which embraces that idea:

“If you know what tactical urbanism is, tactical transit is the same principle applied to transit.  So it means something like this:  Don’t just fight for giant infrastructure projects that take many years to fund, approve, and complete.  Try things now, with what you have, in ways that (a) make a measurable improvement and/or (b) inspire people to see what’s possible.  And often: Use temporary materials, as appropriate, to present things as experiments, so people can experience them before passing judgment on them. “

Read more here: Tactical Transit: A Fast Path to Transit Infrastructure

Here’s an example:

HOW TACTICAL TRANSIT COULD SHIFT TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
In Everett, Massachusetts, a pilot project recently transformed a parking lane in a heavily congested portion of Broadway/Route 99 into bus-only lane during rush hour. Requiring no engineering investment, the project merely relies on orange safety cones and temporary signage to demarcate the lane. Initial data indicates that commute times have been reduced anywhere from 4-8 minutes, and both bus riders and car commuters have embraced the project because it has improved traffic flow overall. According to City transportation planner Jay Monty, Everett has decided to extend the pilot indefinitely and is exploring ways to expand the route. Why Tactical Transit is the Next Big Thing

creative-solutions

What would be some ways that this principle could be applied more specifically to preventing vehicle violence tragedies?

Wikipedia on Road Traffic Safety: Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport (mainly buses and trams).

Best-practices in modern road safety strategy:

The basic strategy of a Safe System approach is to ensure that in the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury. This threshold will vary from crash scenario to crash scenario, depending upon the level of protection offered to the road users involved. For example, the chances of survival for an unprotected pedestrian hit by a vehicle diminish rapidly at speeds greater than 30 km/h, whereas for a properly restrained motor vehicle occupant the critical impact speed is 50 km/h (for side impact crashes) and 70 km/h (for head-on crashes).

— International Transport Forum, Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach, Executive Summary page 19 {International Transport Forum (2008). “Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach”. OECD. Retrieved 26 January 2012. It recognises that prevention efforts notwithstanding, road users will remain fallible and crashes will occur.[dead link]} 

protect-innocent-lives

Tactical: adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose

“Managing Critical Truck Parking Case Study – Real World Insights from Truck Parking Diaries” ATRI

Truck Safety

Hot off the press. . . a study of the truck parking problem in this country — from the American Transportation Research Institute:

Managing Critical Truck Parking Case Study – Real World Insights from Truck Parking Diaries

About ATRI

 The American Transportation Research Institute has been engaged in critical transportation studies and operational tests since 1954.

ATRI, part of the American Trucking Associations Federation, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

ATRI’s primary mission is to conduct transportation research with an emphasis on the trucking industry’s essential role in a safe, efficient, and viable transportation system.

Talkin together

Buck passing needs to stop! “Brussels and regulators under fire over ‘dieselgate’”

Uncategorized,

European authorities have been accused of glaring errors, including halfhearted application of the rules and buck-passing among officials, that led to their failure to uncover the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

See more here: Brussels and regulators under fire over ‘dieselgate’ Draft MEPs’ report points to failure to uphold EU rules that could have detected cheating, by: Jim Brunsden in Brussels, Financial Times, December 19, 2016

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Could Vision Zero Rulemaking & Traffic Safety Ombudsman Prevent Dieselgate-Type Scandals?

 

IIHS Rear Underride Protocol from Trailer Testing Posted on Website

Truck Safety, ,

In September, IIHS posted protocol from rear underride crash testing onto their website. The semi-trailer underride protocol is located at the bottom of the page at this link: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/technical-information/technical-protocols

A pdf is available here: iihs-underride-test-protocol

Underride Roundtable May 5, 2016 168

Thank you, IIHS, for all of your important work to advance road safety!

Vehicles can become weapons — intentional or not. Death by Motor Vehicle

Safety Advocacy

Vehicles can become weapons — intentional or not. Death by Motor Vehicle.

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Truck plows into Christmas market in Berlin, killing 9

The New Tools of Terror: Vehicular Violence at Center of Recent Attacks

Irreversible tragedies

 

 

 

Road to Zero Coalition Announces $1 million Safe System Innovation Grant Program

Safety Advocacy,

At the conclusion of the Road to Zero Coalition meeting in Arlington, Virginia, on December 15, 2016, National Safety Council (NSC) CEO, Debbie Hersman, announced the Safe System Innovation Grant program funded by NHTSA.

NSC, as the leader of the Coalition, will administer a $1 million per year (for 3 years) grant program. Details are available at their website and here:

road-to-zero-safe-system-innovation-grants-announcement

Road to Zero Coalition Safe System Innovation Grants Program. pdf

road-to-zero-coalition-grants

My ideas: Road to Zero Coalition Considers Priority Actions to Reduce Traffic Fatalities

Treasured Christmas Memories of AnnaLeah & Mary

AnnaLeah and Mary,

For myself, and anyone else who cares to get a glimpse of Christmas with Mary & AnnaLeah, here are links to memories which I posted at this time in 2014 (Thanksgiving through New Year’s):

What Will It Take To Convince US That Side Underride KILLS But Side Guards Save Lives?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety,

The U.S. has studied the problem of deadly side underride for years and yet side underride guards still are not required by a federal regulation. There are some countries which are definitely further along than we are in the process of providing side underride protection on trucks. Here are some posts and articles on the topic of side guards:

  1. Outside Frame Avoids Side Underride Feb 1, 2000 Paul Schenck | Trailer/Body Builders The Safe Liner principle of using outside frame members to act as guard rails was the idea of a safety researcher who has spent a lifetime analyzing vehicle accidents. Dr Karl-Heinz Schimmelpfennig of the engineering firm of Schimmelpfennig and Becke in nearby Munster came up with the concept for the integral safety guard frame and worked with Krone engineers in developing a practical truck trailer with this passive safety restraint.Since last summer, Krone has had five Safe Liners on the road undergoing fleet testing by customers. These outside frame trailers have accumulated 120,000 to 160,000 km (75,000 to 100,000 miles). Another 65 Safe Liners were built in the last half of 1999. Problems have been minimal, Dr Krone says, and fleets are accepting the new concept. Current production is at the rate of two Safe Liners per day (5% of the current production rate of 40 trailers per day). Krone plans to expand this to six per day (15% of daily production) by midyear.The special 38-pallet trailer l5.65-meter (51 feet) that was shown to Chancellor Schroder in June received a good reception in other countries as well. Fleets in Sweden are very interested in the increased productivity. In the Netherlands, a five-truck test under government supervision will investigate whether the longer semitrailer and heavier GVW (60 metric tonnes or 132,000 lb) will actually reduce the number of trucks on the road.Whatever the outcome of the fleet testing of this 38-pallet Safe Liner, the standard-size 34-pallet Safe Liner is already being accepted as a safer vehicle that offers more protection for other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians.
  2. Jurors Sideswipe Trailer OEMs
    | Trailer/Body Builders

     Dec 1, 2000 IT HAS BEEN an autumn of legal wrangling. While most of the nation focused its attention on dimpled chads and manual recounts, a jury in Laredo, Texas, reached a decision that may impact trailer manufacturers like a Palm Beach County voter taking a stab at a butterfly ballot.

    In a nutshell, the jury found that a trailer was defective because it was not equipped with a side underride guard.

  3. Truck Underride Deaths (by type) from DOT Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1994-2014 I asked DOT for a breakdown of truck underride deaths by type: front, side, and rear. I just received that chart today.Truck Underride Deaths by TYPE 1994-2014From 1994 to 2014, this is the breakdown of Deaths by Underride:Collision at Front of the Truck: 625Collision at Side of the Truck: 1534Collision at Rear of the Truck: 1715

    Collision Site Unknown: 132

    Total Underride Deaths Reported: 4,006

    Of course, we need to remember that these figures do not include all underride deaths as it is well-known that they are commonly under-reported.

    So why are trucks sold without side guards? (Why on earth would this be an optional feature?!) And why does NHTSA not mandate side guards?

    Sign our petition to NHTSA to initiate rulemaking on side guards: End Deadly Truck Side Underride Crashes: Mandate Side Guards

  4. Side Guards: The original intent of NHTSA rulemakers in the 1969 NPRM, Docket No. 1-11; Notice 2
  5. https://annaleahmary.com/tag/side-guards/
  6. Truck Trailer Manufacturers Ass’n “Reminds” NHTSA: Side Guards Are “Not Cost-Effective” Says Who?
  7. What about truck SIDE GUARDS and protection for pedestrians & cyclists?
  8. TRUCK SIDEGUARDS COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES DIRECTIVE; The Jessica Campaign
  9. ‘UNDERGUARD Protection System’ for Trucks, Generally EEC Directive Compliant
  10. Report from Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: “Side Guards Save Lives; A Success Story”
  11. Piercing the Passenger Compartment–Voluntary Efforts to Stop the Horrors of Underride Truck Crashes
  12. Powerful & Informative Case Made for Underride Guard Improvement by Trucker/Attorney
  13. Make your lorry safe for cyclists or pay up, warns Boris
  14. Truck Side Guards Resource Page Side guards have been required standard equipment since the 1980s in the European Union and Japan, and more recently in Brazil. Canada conducted research for a national side guard standard from 2009 to 2013 and also began evaluating the viability of using aerodynamic side skirts for vulnerable road user safety.
  15. Side Guards Safety Work Nets National Tech Transfer AwardA Volpe team that investigated and promoted life-saving truck side guards for municipalities won a national 2016 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Excellence in Technology Transfer award.Side guards are vehicle-based safety devices that physically cover exposed areas on the side of a truck, shielding vulnerable road users—such as bicyclists and pedestrians—from being swept underneath a truck’s rear wheels. The Cities of New York, Boston, Cambridge, and San Francisco have taken steps to make truck side guards standard equipment on city vehicles.“We were partners in setting up the technology,” said Dr. Alex Epstein, who led the Volpe team. “Together, we enabled its introduction in the U.S. We had the technical knowledge and expertise to inform their efforts, and to connect with vendors and contractors that could build side guards. From the research phase to the implementation phase, it was a close partnership with these municipalities.”Side guards have been required equipment since the 1980s in the European Union and Japan, and recently in Brazil. After side guards were mandated in the United Kingdom, there was a 61 percent drop in bicyclist fatalities and a 20 percent drop in pedestrian fatalities in side-collisions with trucks.
  16. Infographic – Truck Side Guards Save Lives
  17. Truck Side Guard Technical Overview Safety and Operational Considerations Side guards have been required standard equipment since the 1980s in the European Union and Japan, and more recently in Brazil. Canada conducted research for a national side guard standard from 2009 to 2013 and also began evaluating the viability of using aerodynamic side skirts for VRU safety. Reports from that effort and from Dutch research suggest that certain side skirts may provide comparable protection while also potentially reducing fuel consumption by reducing air drag.                                                            Side collisions with large trucks were associated with 111 pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities annually in the U.S., based on 2005-2009 data on single-unit trucks and tractor-trailers. Of the 75 fatal bicyclist crashes per year with large trucks, approximately 50 percent were side impacts.                                                                                        Based on studies conducted in the United Kingdom, side guards are an effective technology for reducing the number of VRU fatalities and the severity of injuries, especially for bicyclists. For example, in the UK, a 61 percent reduction in cyclist fatalities and 20 percent reduction in pedestrian fatalities were reported in sideimpact collisions with trucks following the national side guard mandate. 
  18. NTSB Safety Recommendations to NHTSA regarding side guards for single-unit trucks (July 3, 2013)
  19. NTSB Safety Recommendations to NHTSA regarding side guards for tractor-trailer trucks (April 3, 2014)
  20. Dutch Road Safety Research Institute: Closed Sideguards on Trucks: Less Fuel Consumption for Trucks, Safer Feeling for Vulnerable Road Users
  21. Great Britain Department for Transport: Integrated Safety Guards and Spray Suppression: Final Summary Report
  22. New on the Market: Angel Wing Side Guard Solution To Prevent Truck Underride Deaths & Injuries
  23. Could Tesla crash fatality have been prevented if trucks were required to have #sideguards?
  24. Tesla driver killed in autopilot crash might still be alive if trailers had side underride guards
  25. Potential benefits of underride guards in large truck side crashes.
  26. Krone Trailer
  27. Truck SIDE GUARDS: Let’s get the debate out in the open. Somebody’s life is depending on it. #VRU
  28. https://annaleahmary.com/tag/aaron-kiefer/
  29. Just got home from the latest side guard crash test. Watch it here!

Alex Epstein, Volpe Transportation Center:

Side Guards: Saving Lives, Saving Fuel
Volpe engineer Alex Epstein presents the idea of using side guards as a means to make trucks safer.

Will we finally acknowledge that the lack of side guards on large trucks leads to a sentence of Death by Motor Vehicle for unsuspecting victims year after year? Will we finally decide to take action and do what is technologically possible in installing underride protection on large trucks?

Save Lives

Update: Today Show investigative Report on Side Underride, February 7, 2017

“Feds Plan 5-Year Phase-in of Connected Vehicle Technology”

Safety Advocacy

See Trucks.com covering DOT’s  initiation of rulemaking on connected vehicle technology: Feds Plan 5-Year Phase-in of Connected Vehicle Technology

Proposed Rule: FMVSS No. 150 Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communication Technology For Light Vehicles

NHTSA’s new strategic plan, The Road Ahead, is an approach that could lead to an America free of motor vehicle fatalities. Traveling the three lanes on the Road to Zero

Vision Zero Petition Book 010

Vision-Zero-Petition-Book-3rd-Edition.pdf