Tag Archives: #stopunderrides

Getting the Ear of Legislators for Bipartisan Collaboration to #STOPUnderrides

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Lois Durso and I have had some excellent conversations with Senators and staffers in both Houses this week. When we have their ear and a bit of time to make them aware of the depth of the underride issue, they really seem to get it.

I only hope that this effort and the upcoming D.C. Underride Crash Test Event on March 26 will bear fruit very soon.

Since the original introduction of the bill on December 12, 2017,  unnecessary delay  has already allowed far too many underride deaths and injuries to continue occurring  — especially when this preventable problem has been known about for decades.

No matter what the reasons for past delay, let’s not let that stand in the way of ending deadly underride.

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: While it makes me frustrated and angry when I discover new information which reveals how much and in what way the underride problem has been swept under the rug for decades, I continue to push for action to be taken collaboratively to end these senseless deaths as quickly as possible.

Based on analysis by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of NHTSA’s truck crash fatality statistics (FARS), this graphic reflects the 600 truck/car collisions which annually occur, on average, at the sides and rear of large trucks  — leaving out front collisions: potential underride tragedies which we want to prevent with the STOP Underrides! Bill.

Some years ago, I noticed the way that the prophet Daniel, in Daniel 9, got on his knees and repented on behalf of his people. . . God’s people, for wrongdoing that he was not directly responsible for — appealing to God to act mercifully.

This week, I thought of that again and determined to stand in the stead of all those who have turned their backs to the underride problem — unknowingly or not. Perhaps we all play some part in not getting to the bottom of those terrible tragedies. Every day we delay, more people will die from truck underride. STOP Underrides!

No matter what the reasons for past delay, let’s not let that stand in the way of moving forward. That is specifically why a Committee On Underride Protection (COUP) is included in the STOP Underrides! Bill, so that a diverse group of individuals can more effectively bring about what is known to be possible.

And so I say with Daniel, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. . . Open shame belongs to us. . .

“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay. . .” (Daniel 9)

On behalf of all those who have not been held accountable, I repent of our country’s indifference to this preventable highway carnage. I ask the Lord to forgive our callous attitude, misplaced priorities, and neglect. May He stir up a sense of urgency that we might all take appropriate action and work together more creatively and effectively.

What are we waiting for?! Let’s get on with it! We’ve got people counting on us — whether they know it or not.

Myth: Significant differences in vehicle mass responsible for truck crash severity. #STOPunderrides

Truck Safety, , , , , , , ,

Two days ago, I found an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Status Report from August 26, 1989. It had two articles about front underride protection which clearly demonstrated the benefit of installing that kind of technology on large trucks to reduce the severity of collision injuries.

“Front End, Energy-Absorbing Truck Guards Reduce the Risks for Motorists”, 8/26/89, IIHS Status Report

Here’s another report which I found the next day. It is a NTSB Safety Recommendation from May 8, 2006, which clearly explains the benefits of front underride protection. Thirteen years ago. And I find myself to be the only one in the country talking about this at any level of insistence that we do something about this. Now.

https://www.ntsb.gov/…/safety-recs/recletters/H06_16.pdf

I found it interesting that NHTSA stated in June 2000 that, “the common belief is that not much can be done to diminish the consequences of crashes between smaller vehicles and large trucks because of the significant differences in vehicle mass.

[I know this to be a MYTH both because I know that underride protection can significantly change the outcome and because I am a truck crash survivor of a horrific crash due to the fact that the truck did not come into my part of the car.]

“However, research has shown that geometric height differences and a lack of forgiving front truck structures CAN be modified to help reduce heavy truck aggressivity and to mitigate the severity of these types of accidents. Examples of these modifications, often referred to as ‘front underride protection systems’–which can result in reduced intrusion or occupant injury–include energy-absorbing front structures to offset the weight differences between two impacting vehicles, as well as bumpers designed to deflect the impacted vehicle away from the front of the truck, thereby reducing the total change in velocity of the smaller vehicle.”

This added information stirs up anger in me at what could have been done well before our crash — in which a truck hit us (front underride protection) and in which we collided with the back of a second trailer (rear underride protection). Fortunately, it also stirs up in me renewed energy and zeal to bring down the walls of Jericho and an end to this senseless loss of lives.

DC Underride Crash Test Event, March 26: Be There, or Be Square!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

Don’t turn a blind eye to preventable truck underride tragedies!

SAVE THE DATE: March 26, 2019, D.C. Underride Crash Test Event

Be there, or be square!

Save the Date D.C. UNDERRIDE Crash Test pdf

How many families are feeling the loss of loved ones this Christmas because of preventable underride?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

How many families are feeling the loss of loved ones this Christmas because of preventable underride? How many more must die before we solve this problem once and for all?

 

This Year & Last Year…Before & After
Existence and perception sometimes seems to have a line of demarcation [May 4, 2013]. Nothing will restore it to what it was. I have to work harder to pay attention to and be involved in the new memories–to embrace the good in the after so that it does not get lost in the longing for the before.

STOP Underrides!

Could effective underride protection on the school bus have changed the outcome?

Safety Advocacy, , , ,
A School Bus Underride Crash took place on September 5, 2018: 
Two issues here: Distracted Driving and Underride. If distracted driving was a factor in the crash, that is so regrettable (and how many of us might be guilty of such foolish behavior?). But could effective underride protection on the school bus have changed the outcome?
 
Here’s a February 2000 article about the problem (unresolved) of School Bus Underride Tragedies: http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/article/610153/should-school-buses-have-rear-underride-guards
My post in May about multiple school bus underrides in the last year: https://annaleahmary.com/2018/05/four-separate-school-bus-underride-crashes-in-the-last-six-months/

Help us win $25,000! Vote for our video in the #25yearsofgiving video contest!

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Today is the day! Click the link below to vote for us in the #25yearsofgiving video
contest so we can win up to $25,000! You can vote daily from now until Aug. 31, 2018.
Join our team to STOP preventable truck underride tragedies!

Reach Every State to STOP Crash Underrides Everywhere! (RESSCUE) Bumper Sticker Project

Truck Safety, ,

I wear my STOP Underrides! shirt wherever I go. It often starts a conversation: “What’s an underride?” “When a car goes under a truck. Like what happened to my daughters.” Too often they say, “That happened to someone I know.”

Help us reach our goal to get STOP Underrides! Bumper Stickers on cars in every state in the U.S.A.! Why? So we can raise awareness & get the STOP Underrides! Bill passed to end these senseless tragedies.

You can participate in this project in three ways:

  • Make a $5 tax deductible donation here. Then, send your mailing address to  stopunderrides@gmail.com. We will mail you one vinyl STOP Underrides! bumper sticker. OR
  • Make a $25 tax deductible donation here. Then, send your mailing address to  stopunderrides@gmail.com. We will mail you ten vinyl STOP Underrides! bumper stickers, so you can put a bumper sticker on your own car and ask 9 friends to do the same! AND
  • Share this post in every way that you can!

Any money donated above our printing and shipping costs will go toward the expenses of the Washington, D.C., Seeing Is Believing Underride Crash Test event, which we are planning for the Fall of 2018.

We will keep an updated list of States With STOP Underrides! Bumper Stickers here:

States With STOP Underrides! Bumper Stickers on Cars

“It served its purpose. It worked as it was designed. It saved a life,” one highway worker said.

Truck Safety, , ,

One highway worker put it so well after observing a recent collision between a tractor trailer and a crash-impact vehicle:

Join My Underride Hero Hall of Fame & Leave a Legacy of Life: End Preventable Death By Underride 

Truck Safety,

Join my Underride Hero Hall of Fame & Leave a Legacy of Life: Act to End Preventable Death By Underride #STOPUnderrides S.2219/HR.4622.

There are many people who should be included in this underride hero “hall of fame” but whose photos I do not have.

Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind. . . John Donne