“Real safety is finding and fixing defects before someone gets hurt, ” Secretary Foxx.

Safety Advocacy, ,

“Real safety is finding and fixing defects before someone gets hurt, rather than just punishing after the damage is done,” DOT Secretary Foxx commented. NHTSA surrenders to automakers with prospective agreement on voluntary safety standards and Feds and 18 car companies team up to create new auto safety standards

I couldn’t agree with you more, Secretary Foxx. I hope to see that statement take shape in the adoption of a Vision Zero Rulemaking Policy — as we have petitioned you to do:

Save Lives Not Dollars: Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy

Voluntary standards might be compared to encouraging your child to do what is right but providing no tangible guidelines to which they must adhere. What does that teach the child except that there are no consequences to doing whatever they choose? What motivation is there to think of how their actions will impact others? Can you really count on your child to always put others first?  Would you want to do that when a life is hanging in the balance?

Deaths become meaningless when accountability is not assigned. And Vision Zero [moving toward zero crash deaths & serious injuries] is not really the priority when undue weight is given to industry influence upon decision-makers rather than identifying and implementing proven traffic safety measures which would SAVE LIVES.

Is it?

Safety is not a priority 002

Autonomous Big Rig Trio hitting road in Europe, but US taking longer to develop AEB for trucks than cars

Truck Safety, ,

Based on the series-produced Actros model, the three trucks are equipped with Mercedes’ Highway Pilot Connect software, which relies on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology to let the rigs travel in what Daimler calls a platoon. Data about the road ahead gathered by the lead truck is constantly transferred to the two other trucks via a Wi-Fi connection, so each vehicle knows precisely when to accelerate, when to brake, and when to turn without requiring any human input. However, the driver must remain alert and focused on the road ahead.

The trucks in the platoon follow each other in 50-foot intervals, which boosts gas mileage by up to ten percent by reducing drag. CO2 emissions are also slashed by ten percent. More efficient trucks are good for the environment, and they’re beneficial for companies that make a living by transporting goods.

Read more here: A TRIO OF AUTONOMOUS MERCEDES BIG RIGS IS HITTING THE ROAD IN EUROPE

What are the drawbacks? What could go wrong? What will it take to have this technology fully operational in the U.S.? Will it be regulated to ensure safety and oversee any defects?

How does this development compare to the caution at NHTSA over Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB):

Developing reliable automated safety systems for commercial vehicles and trucks is a greater challenge due to the vehicles larger size and heavier weight. It’s necessary to ensure that an AEB system would not cause the vehicle to flip or lose control in the event of rapid braking. The NHTSA is expecting it will take some time to develop the required technology, and while they have granted the aforementioned petition, no defined timeline has been set in place for when the change will be implemented.  

Read more here: Automatic Braking for Trucks Taking Longer to Develop than Cars – Research and Markets

Rebekah photo of crash

See how she loved her sister. . .

AnnaLeah and Mary

1i newborn Mary and Susanna (1)33b Mary AnnaLeah picking her up4 b baby Mary AL tucking in29 b baby Mary with S L AL31 b Mary and AnnaLeahMary y2kSusanna AnnaLeah and Mary burger king crowns19 AnnaLeah Mary 4 bday 18 AnnaLeah Mary sheet tent0 40 270 280 260 293 AnnaLeah and Mary in the snow, Rocky Mount (2)8 Picture 6570133 WarsawINFilmPhotographer_MIMemoria_Film_101

Do Driver Training programs, & states’ Rules of the Road books, cover the dangers of truck underride?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

I was driving to Raleigh/Durham today and, shortly after I merged onto 64, a car passed me and then immediately proceeded to get back into the right lane–squeezing in front of a car and directly behind a tractor-trailer. Within less than 1/2 a mile, all three vehicles exited.

Why couldn’t the driver have waited patiently behind me and then exited?! An underride crash could so easily have occurred.

Do driver education programs teach about the dangers of truck underride? Maybe every written driver’s test should contain a question related to the avoidance of Death by Underride (when it is within one’s control).

Trip North May 2015 0281

Sometimes life just happens, and sometimes we have to make things happen.

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

Sometimes life just happens, and sometimes we have to make things happen.

Serenity

 

Technology and distractions – what have we done?!

Safety Advocacy

Technology and distractions – what have we done!

IMG_4491

Opposition to DOT’s attempts to prevent driver fatigue get tiresome. Take a tip from FAA pilot rules.

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

It sure would be refreshing to find that there was no more opposition to finding the best solution for truck driver fatigue–instead of a continuous battle to get this right. Maybe they should take a tip from the airline industry.

Thanks to federal regulations, pilots never fly more than nine hours at a time, always have backup “relief pilots” and designated beds on long flights, and have limits on the number of weekly hours they can work. This means pilots are among the best-rested people working in commercial transportation — certainly more so than truck drivers, for instance — and rarely deal with the issue of drowsy or sleep-deprived performance. 

The Federal Aviation Administration announced a sweeping overhaul of pilot scheduling rules in 2011 in order to ensure that pilots have more time for rest before they enter the cockpit. Among other changes, the minimum mandatory downtime between flights was increased from eight hours to ten hours. One Reason Airplanes Are Far Safer Than Buses and Trucks

When will we get this right?

Scan

Need Nat’l Safety Stds @POTUS: MD Car Safety Disclosure Bill Does Little to Protect & Inform Drivers

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

“MD House Car Safety Disclosure Bill Does Little to Protect and Inform Drivers” Maryland House Car Safety Disclosure Bill

ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — The auto safety disclosure bill the MD House passed in March (HB 525) does very little to protect drivers from dangerous defects, leading safety and consumer advocates say, and flies in the face of new safety and defect disclosure rules issued last week by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). Leading consumer groups including Public Citizen, the Center for Auto Safety, and the Consumer Federation of America have joined Consumer Auto in calling on the MD Senate to strengthen the bill to better protect consumers.

“The bill would sharply limit our ability to share with our customers the information about defects the manufacturers share with us in service bulletins, warranty updates, and other communications,” notes Jack Fitzgerald, the president of Fitzgerald Auto Malls who has run a string of car dealerships in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida for 50 years. 
“It’s absurd for Maryland law to prevent us from telling our customers about information that Congress and NHTSA say should be public. That’s a terrible disservice to the people who rely on us to sell and service their cars,” Mr. Fitzgerald argues.

My answer: National Traffic Safety Standards and Rules to be adopted by every state. A task of a White House Vision Zero Task Force. What are you waiting for, President Obama?

If we do not pursue this course of action, then who is ethically responsible for all of the deaths which will occur as a result?

Number Line Rulemaking Method

Here is your chance to help the Virginia Tech Student Design Team build a life-saving underride guard!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,
The Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Team is asking for help to pay for their unique underride guard design. How cool is that to see students dedicating their senior year to saving lives!!! 
Be a part of their project. See their GoFundMe page here: VT Senior Design Sine Beam Purchase
 
See more about their project here: Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Team Spring Midterm Report
Virginia Tech Dream Team 2016 Photo
Virginia Tech Dream Team. Left to right: Wayne, Daniel, Andrew, Sean, and Kristen. Brian not pictured.

Virginia Tech Senior Underride Design Team Spring Midterm Report

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

The Virginia Tech Senior Student Design Team, which was inspired to take on the goal of designing a better truck underride guard, presented the results of their Spring Midterm Report last week.

See that report here: Spring Midterm_Final

Virginia Tech Dream Team 2016 Photo
Dream Team. Left to right: Wayne Carter, Daniel Carrasco, Andrew Pitt, Sean Gardner, Kristine Adriano. Brian Smith not pictured.

I don’t know if I got their names in the right order. I will get to meet them at the Roundtable on May 5!

Here are other documents related to their project: