Some people think that I am stuck in grief. Some people think that my advocacy is too full of anger. Actually, I’m not perfect in how I am handling this, but I have to say some things because I hate being misunderstood and maybe clarifying it will help to open some minds to getting this problem resolved.
I have already forgiven the truck driver who started the chain of events which led to my daughters’ deaths. While we think that he could have done a lot of things to be a safer driver, the crash could have turned out quite differently had there been an effective rear underride guard (rear impact guard or Mansfield Bar) on the back of the trailer with which we collided.
In that scenario, there would likely have been no fatalities and the truck driver would not have had his CDL taken away for two years with a negative impact on his career. But, in fact, he is one of the victims as well as AnnaLeah and Mary and my family.
However, I continue to deal with the frustration — and thus anger — which comes with the ongoing revelation of deception and inaction on the part of government and industry — over & over again. It is a chicken and egg situation where everyone can too easily justify waiting for someone else to take responsibility. So the end result is that no one is held accountable to solve the underride problem.
Quite likely those who could do something about it might think or act differently if their job was not on the line or if they did not feel constrained by what they thought needed to be done to protect some organizational goal — never mind if they really looked at the whole picture they would understand that solving the underride problem would be win/win for everyone. And, of course, if they lost someone they loved due to underride, they (like me) would quite possibly move heaven and earth to end these preventable tragedies.
So what do I do with that anger and frustration? I channel it into actions which will hopefully raise awareness to bring about a paradigm shift in wrong-headed thinking and lead to effective collaboration to get this taken care of once and for all.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety asked for a quote after our original underride petition led to the start of NHTSA rulemaking in 2014:
Karth says the Institute “played an important part in our efforts. First of all, your research and reports enlightened us and then that led to us being enraged and asking the question, ‘If something could be done to make underride guards stronger, then why wasn’t it being done?’ That, of course, led to us being empowered to educate and motivate others to join with us in asking for change.”
That quest will continue on until we see victory and right the wrong. Fortunately, we know, like David, that the battle is the Lord’s. So we seek for wisdom and we continually lay down our reactions at the foot of the cross in the knowledge that we war not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities which would pit us against each other instead of pulling together.
After all, this is not about getting the truck industry to get in line — or else. To quote Rose in The Last Jedi: That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.
