A simple song sung by a mother — with simple trust in the Father for all the gifts He has given and which He has promised are yet to come.
Mary & AnnaLeah sang this song one year with a King’s Kids choir in Texas. I know that they believed its simple words by faith as a mustard seed.
Video footage from Mary’s Baptism, AnnaLeah’s Confirmation, & their journey home to their Father in heaven above.
“Simple Song” lyrics & music by Honeytree (Nancy Hennigbaum)
I will sing a simple song The meaning will be clear. And you’ll never have to wonder When you’re far away from here Just where I am coming from And where I take my stand Beneath the cross of Jesus Holding to His nail-scarred hand.
The Bible says it in a simple way And so do I. Our Father up in heaven Sent His only Son to die So that you and I could be free from all our sins. Take a look at Jesus Christ in faith Eternal life begins.
He rose again. He conquered death forever When He rose again. I know it won’t be long Until we rise with Him To spend eternal life in Paradise. This is my simple song.
And I know it’s nothing new. But every simple word is true. And this is my simple song.
Perry Ponder from Seven Hills Engineering makes some timely observations. Anyone concerned about preventing deadly underride crashes will want to make sure that regulators and manufacturers are listening.
Here is the 1969 DOT document to which Perry refers–in which they indicate their intent to extend underride protection to the sides of large vehicles:
Looking forward to a lively Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016.
What kind of underride protection would be the result of a Vision Zero Rulemaking Policy?
My grandkids love to learn outside of the box and are excited about the possibility of winning some cool hands-on learning tools for their home school classroom. Their mom has a home business of creating learning products to sell online and the website where a lot of her products get sold is having a contest.
By casting your vote online every day through May 6, you could help their family win some great resources to enhance their learning experience. It’s easy. Just go to this website and register with your email address (they will not share your address with anyone else). Then vote for Danelle K–once a day.
To celebrate Teacher Appreciation month Educents, FreshGrade, S&S Worldwide, and the Sellers of Educents have partnered to give teachers funding for their dream classrooms. The 7 participants with the most votes will win a combined $10,000.
This past year we have had some financial setbacks. In trying to change life for the better we have moved in with my husband’s family. We have cut finances and this past school year didn’t include a lot of new hands on activities. My children are really excited about the opportunity and possibility of winning a lot of awesome hands on tools. This would make for an amazing couple of years! Thanks!
On the way home today, there was an electronic sign on I-540 letting us know that there was a crash near the exit we would be taking and that we should take an earlier exit, Actually, there were two signs–one a few miles before the alternate route to avoid the traffic back-up and then another one right before the detour.
After we got back home and were talking about it at supper, in the midst of grown-up voices, my 9 year-old grandson said that one of those signs might have helped. I said, “When?” He said, “At the crash with Mary and AnnaLeah.” I said, “Yes, it could have.”
If only there had been a sign on May 4, 2013 on I-20 in Georgia warning traffic about a crash ahead, then a certain truck driver might have been alerted enough to pay attention and notice the traffic back-up in time to slow down and not hit our car. Or we might have been diverted off that route and never been in that situation. In both scenarios, AnnaLeah and Mary would likely still be with us today.
I’m hoping that people in this country, who can do something about it, will figure out what my grandson has — that things can be done to protect us better. And that they’ll do their part to make it happen. Less preventable deaths & serious injuries. Less grief to bear.
. . . Brian Helton, Mercer’s marketing and media relations manager, said the biggest issue among drivers he sees is that they need more time to spend with their families.
In an effort to meet the needs of its drivers, Mercer started a mentoring program to share knowledge and training practices. Corum explained the program began a year ago as a way to provide drivers with mentors and more resources.
“If the drivers feel like we’re trying, that we heard their voice, that means a lot,” Corum said. “So we keep our ears to the ground. Mentoring is about sharing knowledge and we know it’s making a difference.”
Corum added that the company is expanding more into dry vans – it’s got 600 operating now and looking at potentially establishing a trailer pool. Many of its drivers are more open to dry van work, and because flatbed work is so physically demanding, Corum explained going to dry van allows drivers to work three or five more years before retiring.
Another big challenge Corum mentioned is figuring out how to help owner operators keep up with new rules and regulations, getting them to use new technology like ELDs, and providing them with safety training. He said Mercer is receiving some pushback from drivers regarding ELDs, but the company is mandating their use by July 1 this year.
An excellent article, showing a video of an IIHS crash test, conveys the importance of truck safety to workers and companies.
“Both consumers and businesses should pay attention to the IIHS tests, safety experts said.
“These ratings are terribly important,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. “If I was a fleet manager, I would make sure I had my workers in the safest one. It also will save companies money over the long run.”
Beyond preventing injury, using safer vehicles reduces lost work time, workers’ compensation insurance claims and liability risk, Ditlow said.” See
The National Safety Council’s 2015 Injury Facts reports that at work about 1,500 motor vehicle deaths and 100,000 injuries occur each year. The NSC estimates the economic costs to be nearly $24 billion in 2013.
That is about 4 motor vehicle deaths at work per day in the U.S.A. today.
The silence on this tragically preventable problem of American workers from President Obama, presidential candidates, and the media is deafening.
“At some point, somebody has to take personal responsibility & be accountable for the danger of this industry. More truck drivers are killed on the job than any other occupation. More than 500 truck drivers are killed every year in truck crashes. . . I don’t know any other industry where that’s allowed . . . and people are looking the other way.
“We need to have this prosecuted at the industry or company level, because that’s where the problem lies. . . The industry drives them harder and longer than they should. The result is catastrophic death and injury all across the country
“If we could get a change in some of the laws. . . to the point where company executives are criminally responsible for the violations of their drivers’ Hours of Service, you would see a lot of things change in the industry. You might see some changes that are long overdue,” says Jeff Burns, Truck Litigation Attorney.
Jeff Burns, National Transportation Counsel for the Truck Safety Coaltion, discusses the issue of truck crash prosecutions and the challenges facing victims of truck crashes. Prosecutors across the country are choosing not to prosecute those responsible for deadly truck crashes. Furthermore, drivers and companies are facing only minimal fines, much less than a speeding motorist, for reckless driving that results in an accident and/or death. Visit www.trucksafety.org for more information on how you can help in the fight to make our highways safer for everyone. June 14, 2011
Some previous posts which I have written on the issues of justice related to truck crashes:
Tonight I just happened to find a great article written by Roger Lanctot on the topic of driverless vehicles and crash avoidance and other good things like that. He said it with much more technical expertise than I ever could. Read it here: NHTSA: Driverless, Directionless in DC
Thank you, Roger, for clarifying the issues and throwing out a challenge. Let’s hope that we as a nation can take up that challenge in a wise and timely fashion.
Here we have the opportunity to pull together the creative intelligence and technological resources of our country. Will we be able to look back, in years to come, with gratitude for being able to plan ahead in a non-competitive way to develop a workforce which creates useful products–all the while protecting health and life?
Here’s my idea–in keeping with Roger’s suggestion of a Vision Zero objective related to this technological challenge. Let’s say that a Vision Zero objective would mean that the guiding light/the plumbline would be a continual focus on safety–always asking the question at each step along the way, “How will this impact safety?”
And how would this be accomplished? By President Obama setting a National Vision Zero Goal–because who else would do it? It is an issue much broader than the Department of Transportation–and should include Labor, Commerce, Public Health, among others.
And then President Obama needs to establish a White House Vision Zero Task Force with Committees made up of resourceful people to take up challenges such as Roger Lanctot has suggested: “the development and adoption of technology that could start reducing the alarmingly high rate of crash-related injuries and fatalities in the U.S. and abroad – while also stimulating the economy and ultimately reducing the cost of vehicle ownership – or possibly eliminating vehicle ownership.”
Finally, President Obama needs to sign a Vision Zero Executive Order which will pave the way for rulemaking to actually make safety The Priority and other priorities would then fall in place subsequent to saving lives.
Can you imagine how effective and efficient such a process could be? Working together toward a common goal for the common good. Making good use of our resources and skills to meet needs.
Towards Zero Crash Deaths & Serious Injuries. A vision worth pursuing, a guiding light to keep us on track. Let’s do it, people.
