Tag Archives: Aaron Kiefer

Partner With Us To Protect Vulnerable Victims of Underride Crashes

January 7, 2017Truck SafetyAaron Kiefer, Bono Guard, Christopher Guard, side guards, TrailerGuard System, underride guardsMarianne

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:

More information about Aaron’s invention: https://annaleahmary.com/2016/12/crash-test-of-innovative-large-truck-side-guard-could-advance-side-underride-prevention/

Wonderful memories of Mary and her St. Bernard, Gertie (the inspiration for Bono):

Mary’s Life With Gertie; Her Best Friend to the End

Crash reconstructionist (inventor of an innovative side guard) tallies side underride crashes he has seen

July 3, 2016Safety Advocacy, Truck SafetyAaron Kiefer, side guards, side underride, underride crash testsMarianne

Aaron Kiefer has designed an innovative combination side/rear underride guard for large trucks. Recently, he tallied up the number of side underride crashes which his crash reconstruction firm has investigated.

This is what he found:

-39 passenger vehicle/commercial vehicle underride accidents in 2014, 2015, 2016 YTD (16 average annual cases*) *Approx 90% of cases were sampled

-26 side, 13 rear

-19 into dry van trailers, (13 side, 6 rear)

-10 into flatbed trailers

-10 into other trailer types/other commercial vehicles

See one of his side guard crash tests:

Here’s my report on the first crash test of Aaron’s side guard prototype on March 13, 2016: Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

Side Guard Crash Test #3: Successful Prevention of Truck Underride Once Again!

May 28, 2016Safety Advocacy, Truck SafetyAaron Kiefer, side guards, underride crash tests, underride guardsMarianne

This Saturday morning found us helping out at Aaron Kiefer’s third crash test of his side guard prototype. We managed to complete two crash tests–both successful with no Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). People in the car would probably have survived.

The first crash resulted in the car bouncing back with no part of the vehicle going under the truck. We concluded that the car being in neutral allowed it to be sent backward after the collision. If the car had been in gear, then it probably would not have done that. Because the hood was bent, we took off the broken front bumper to get the hood up in order to charge the battery on the car to prepare it for the second test.
The second crash still had no PCI but the side guard tore at two points–quite likely from sharp parts of the car where the bumper had been taken off. Because the guard tore, it allowed the car to go under the truck up to the point of the A-pillar–although still leaving the passenger compartment totally intact.

Another successful crash test day with promising results for future underride protection which can be manufactured for trailers and single unit trucks. Aaron envisions kits for retrofitting existing trucks, at around 200 pounds for maybe $1,000/truck.

The biggest failing of the day was my crash test video on the first crash; I held my camera at the wrong angle so you’ll have to tip your head to view it properly (audio also seemed to be muted at some points). Thankfully, my bloopers had no impact on the success of the underride prevention technology!

Photo Album from the Crash Test Day: https://www.facebook.com/AnnaLeahandMaryforTruckSafety/posts/15529895183376422

Here is a video of the preparation and aftermath analysis:

Previous crash testing of Aaron Kiefer’s side guard prototype (March and April 2016: Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

Imagine a truck UNDERRIDE GUARD which provides REAR & SIDE protection.

January 20, 2016AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck SafetyAaron Kiefer, crash test, IIHS, rear underride, side underride guard, underride crash, underride guardMarianne

Imagine an underride guard on a truck which combines protection on the rear of the truck with protection on the side. Sound good?

We have an opportunity to raise money to crash test this innovative underride guard–designed by Aaron Kiefer, a forensic engineer/crash reconstructionist in North Carolina, who after seeing horrific crashes wanted to design better protection to prevent people from dying.

See Aaron’s Public Comment on single unit truck underride rulemaking: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0070-0013 “. . . side impact regulations should be considered for straight trucks but more importantly for semitrailers.
Many lives can be saved through side impact protection that is capable of redirecting passenger vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists from moving beneath a straight truck or semitrailer.”

We need to raise $20,000 for a crash test to test Aaron’s design at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Vehicle Research Center. So far, we have raised $4,500 to cover the costs of a 2010 Chevy Malibu and a tractor-trailer into which the car will crash.

Be a part of this important project and help to save lives. Donate now & spread the word: https://www.fortrucksafety.com/

Printable Brochure: ALMFTS Underride Crash Tests Brochure