It’s a new day.
Full of possibilities.
What will it bring? What does He have in store for me?
Looking forward to being a part of it.
The recent widespread discussion in social media about the actions of a young man after partying has triggered my distress at the thought of the regrettable actions by drunk, drugged, distracted, and drowsy drivers every day.
Do we really grasp the way that these things impair us and change our ability to act sensibly, responsibly–the way we might if we were “in our right mind”?
What does it lead to (whether intended or not)? Out-of-control. Regrettable actions. Broken lives. Irreversible tragedies.
Surely there are better ways for us to deal with the stress, pain, fear, frustration, and boredom in our lives. I mean, what are we doing to ourselves? Has it become socially acceptable to mess up our own lives as well as those around us?
What can I do about it? What can you do about it? Surely we can work together to find ways to end these senseless, preventable tragedies–on and off the road.
Tell your legislators to support the establishment of a Traffic Safety Ombudsman who will have a strong voice to advocate for genuine traffic safety measures. Enough of the political tug-of-war that does nothing to stop preventable crash deaths.
I just wrote to a long list of legislators. This is what I said:
Dear President Obama,
I sat at my computer the other day and listened to you speak at a Town Hall on PBS News Hour (recorded June 1, 2016).
You said that crash fatalities were a major public health problem — as if they no longer are. You implied that we have already done, or are already doing, everything possible to prevent 33,000 people from dying on the roads of our country every year.
In fact, your attitude brushes off my daughters’ deaths as inevitable rather than potentially preventable. It sounds like, to you, their deaths — their lives — weren’t worth enough to put out the additional effort needed to decrease the fatality rate to the fullest extent possible. And not once have you acknowledged our petition for Vision Zero action.
Let me tell you, that makes me mad! Would you be any less so were your family in our shoes?! Would that change your tune about the acceptability of the current crash fatality rate? Would you suddenly speak out against the decades of political tug-of-war which delay — over and over — needed safety measures?
Would you go beyond talking about it and do what no one else can do: lead the way in setting our entire nation (and not just some programs in the USDOT or scattered efforts in states, cities, and communities) on a course of aggressively moving toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries?
Would you, in fact, make Traffic Safety a national priority–placing it on the list of important issues listed on whitehouse.gov and then do something about it, e.g.,:
President, Obama, don’t be misled by DOT’s commitment to the TZD (Toward Zero Deaths) initiative. It is obviously not enough. I should know; I have spent endless hours engaged in a battle for safer trucking, and others have spent many more years doing so.
Take the bull by the horn, make use of the authority invested in you as the leader of this country, and end this public health travesty. And please, talk to me about this; show me that you are not ignoring our heartfelt, data-driven pleas.
On behalf of AnnaLeah & Mary (and countless others), who can no longer speak for themselves,
Marianne Karth
p.s. What is stopping you from taking this action which would benefit us all?
On the PBS News Hour, June 1, 2016, starting at 1:57 to about 3:05 on this video, hear President Obama speak about the crash fatality rate:
https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10154247237078675/
Obama: “We can’t accept this carnage” Let’s apply that sentiment toward preventable highway carnage.
On D-Day, Monday, June 6, 2016, STARTING at NOON (EST), help me flood the media with this message in reply to President Obama (see the sharing links below):
AnnaLeah. . . still waters run deep.
America, are we doing all we can to save our loved ones? Before it’s too late. Because they never come back.
There’s no one someone won’t miss.
Stifled Grief: How the West Has It Wrong Huff Post (Common Grief)
It is my grief — my ongoing heartfelt loss — which compels me to ask these questions.
Is Cost/Benefit Analysis Appropriate for Life & Death Matters? Were their lives worth saving?
I received an email from President Obama this week in response to a message which I sent to him in March on the whitehouse.gov Contact Form–asking him to read the Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition which we had delivered to him. The news is not really that great. This is what he said: Email from President Obama
He expressed sympathy and thanked me for writing, but he did not say that he would do anything about the problem or the requested solution/action/strategy. Please help me make sure that he knows that the people of this country want him to make Traffic Safety a National Priority.
On D-Day, Monday, June 6, 2016, STARTING at NOON (EST), help me flood the media with this message in reply to President Obama (see the sharing links below):
For more information, see previous post: I got an email from President Obama this week.
President Obama, Do something to help us move more quickly toward zero crash deaths! Make Traffic Safety a National Priority.
Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem.
And don’t forget about the crash injuries. In 2013, approximately 2.31 million people were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes.
Apparently, President Obama is okay with the current state of traffic fatalities. Anyway it sounds as if he thinks that we have already done all we can to reduce crash deaths.
At least that is what it sounds like to me from last night’s PBS News Hour video of President Obama speaking at a Town Hall (June 2, 2016):
“We used to have really bad auto fatality rates. The auto fatality rate has actually dropped precipitously, drastically since I was a kid. Why is that? We decided we had seat belt laws. We decided to have manufacturers put air bags in place. We decided to crack down on drunk driving and texting. We decided to redesign roads so that they were less likely to have a car bank.
“We studied what is causing these fatalities using science and data and evidence. And then we slowly treated it like the public health problem it was. And it got reduced.”
See President Obama talking about this, starting at 1:57 on this video: https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10154247237078675/
Interesting. This is what I noticed about what he said:
President Obama, are you aware that over 20,000 people have asked you to set a Vision Zero Goal and to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order. We need a Vision Zero Task Force to address specific traffic safety issues and we need Vision Zero Rulemaking policies and we need a Traffic Safety Ombudsman to over see this ongoing public health problem–in ways that are not now being done.
Could we please sit down and talk about this so we can get on the same page?
Marianne
p.s. I, for one, daily face the loss of my two daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13). And I know for a fact that more could have been done — but wasn’t — to prevent their deaths.
Growing Momentum for Self-Driving Cars Worries Safety Advocates – See more at: http://www.fairwarning.org/2016/06/self-driving-cars/#sthash.V6EZIQZe.eVIkkjWL.dpuf
Other related articles:
I received an email from President Obama this week in response to a message I sent to him in March on the whitehouse.gov Contact Form–asking him to read the Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition which we had delivered to him. This is what he said:
Dear Marianne,
On D-Day, Monday, June 6, 2016, STARTING at NOON (EST), help me flood the media with this message in reply to President Obama (see the sharing links below):
President Obama,
Thank you for your sympathy and kind words. But what I, and over 20,000 Vision Zero Petition signers, want is for you to do what no one else in this country can do: Make Traffic Safety a National Priority!
Looking forward to hearing from you again soon,
Marianne Karth
Please share this Traffic Safety Virtual Flash Mob Game Plan with others before Monday, June 6, D-Day:
On Monday, June 6, we will remember the sacrifice of the armed forces as they fought to bring an end to WWII.
On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” https://www.army.mil/d-day/
President Obama, we will accept nothing less than a full-fledged, national effort to move toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries. Lead the way!
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Prayer on D-Day, June 6, 1944
In memory of AnnaLeah & Mary, precious ones whose lives were cut far too short: