“It doesn’t take much force at all to turn an otherwise minor accident into a deadly one.” Insightful coverage of the truck underride problem by a reporter in Dallas/Fort Worth who contacted and interviewed Rebekah Karth Chojnacki today. Well done, Rebekah.
“AnnaLeah died instantly. Mary had a stroke and died several days later at a Children’s Hospital in Georgia,” said their sister, Rebekah Chojnacki.
The family soon learned that tractor trailers in the United States are required to have a rear guard to prevent so called ‘underride’ crashes where passenger vehicles slip underneath larger trucks. In many cases, though, like in the Karths’ collision, they fail.
“We don’t want to just say this a tragedy and there’s nothing we can do about it. There are solutions, and we want to help be the solution,” said Chojnacki. . .
Frustrated by the lack of progress, the Karth family helped write legislation that would require these improved standards for rear guards and, for the first time, mandate side impact guards. . .
Karth knows, though, the fight is not over yet. “Until we get enough support to get this bill passed, people will continue to die,” she said.
Family Trying To Change Law, Save Lives 5 Years After Deadly Big Rig Crash
Thank you, Andrea Lucia & CBS DFW.
Rebekah & Susanna Karth were also interviewed by a DFW station shortly after the crash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKhY0gXQqY We are thankful that this issue is getting needed attention and have high hopes that this will come to a vote soon to mandate an end to these needless, preventable tragedies.
With the help of He who watches over us. . . may this be done swiftly for the preserving of many lives.
