Tag Archives: traffic safety

The March Madness of Competing Traffic Safety Interests

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What is it like to compete for the attention of government leaders in order to get traction on the traffic safety problem which took your loved one’s life? Envision a press conference on a hot topic where a cacophony of reporters can be heard shouting out — vying for the opportunity to have their question be the one that gets answered.

Only it is much worse because it seems fundamentally disturbing that we should be pitted against each other in endless competition for action on issues which are all vital to saving lives. In this process, we are fragmented and quite possibly give more power to the opposing forces.

Something’s wrong with this picture. And what I think that we need to turn things around is an Office of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman. Let’s appoint an Advocate with authority to be a strong voice for all of us and a means to bring us together – someone who will strengthen our efforts rather than leave us struggling in some kind of tournament where it is always win or go home.

Congressional Offices are continuously overwhelmed by pleas from advocates representing a multitude of concerns. And, although the Department of Transportation may have many fine individuals working on our behalf, there are clearly too many factors which put a stranglehold on effective action. I have not found that I could count on tangible progress from the agencies which are supposed to represent Safety and traffic victims and which have publicly committed to Vision Zero:

“At FHWA, we believe that a single death is a tragedy; almost 90 deaths a day is unacceptable when we possess the tools and capability to help prevent them. Reaching zero deaths will be difficult, will take time and will require significant effort from all of us; but it is the only acceptable vision. We’re not at zero yet, but we know that by working together we will see a day when there are no fatalities on the Nation’s roadways, sidewalks and bicycle paths.” On TOWARD ZERO DEATHS

“Safety is the top priority of the US DOT. For FHWA, this means a road system that is designed to protect its users, through implementing life-saving programs and infrastructure safety solutions. FHWA’s goal is to reduce transportation related fatalities and serious injuries across the transportation system, and for this reason it fully supports the vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on the Nation’s roads. To support this vision, FHWA continues to work closely with our partners to advance safety culture and a safe system approach, encourage performance-driven transportation safety management practices, and advocate for the deployment of innovative safety countermeasures. Working together, we can strive toward zero, the only acceptable number. “ Zero Deaths – Saving Lives through a Safety Culture and a Safe System

Words without meaningful action do me no good. What is going to bring about significant change? Can we even agree on the need for a united front, an appointed spokesperson, and a nationwide network of concerned citizens to more effectively address all traffic safety concerns?

If we do not, my daughters’ deaths become diminished – their lives apparently not worth saving, along with 40,000 other precious loved ones lost last year and the year before that and the year before that and some 40,000 this year and the next and the next. . .

U.S.A. Crash Death Clock

Mary & her Gertie
Gertie & her Mary

Basic Underride Information

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

This post provides basic underride information, as well as a running list of recent relevant posts.

  1. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.
  2. Can the Insurance Industry Help End the Unfair Fight of Truck Underride Tragedies?
  3. Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?
  4. @SecretaryPete, Will you fix flawed underride analysis or let deaths continue?
  5. Families glad new infrastructure law will address underride crashes, WRTV, November 18, 2021
  6. First responders train to save lives during underride crashes, WRTV, November 23, 2021
  7. Raleigh Mom: Infrastructure Bill Will Prevent Crashes Like the One That Killed My Girls , Raleigh News&Observer, November 18, 2021
  8. Rear impact guard now part of annual truck inspection, CCJ, November 15, 2021
  9. FMCSA Issues Final Rule: Rear Underride Guards To Be Part Of Annual Inspections, November 20, 2021
  10. Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation
  11. AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”
  12. Unguarded & Unsafe: Death By Underride by Eric Hein, July 15, 2021
  13. STOP Underrides Petition can be found here.
  14. Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test; Rear Retrofit crash test
  15. A Timeline of Underride Safety
  16. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
  17. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
  18. Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards
  19. Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?
  20. Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes
  21. Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks More research on side underride has just been published by SAE International following a presentation by Garrett Mattos of the Friedman Research Center at a SAE Conference. Hopefully, the Department of Transportation now has enough research to make good on their March 19, 1969 intention to add underride protection to the sides of large vehicles.
  22. IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride
  23. What will it take to get UNDERRIDE on DOT Regulatory Agenda? We’ve been waiting 52+ years for DOT to move forward with side guards on large trucks — not to mention improving rear guard regulations and adding front underride protection. After numerous petitions, comprehensive underride rulemaking still has not made it the onto the DOT Unified Regulatory Agenda.
  24. Collaborative Discussion of Side Guard Challenges on Specialty Trucks I was very pleased with the collaborative discussion which took place via Zoom on Monday, March 29, 2021, regarding the challenges of adding side guard safety technology to specialty trucks. Participants included primarily engineers and small companies who have been working on researching, designing, and/or marketing solutions to the underride problem. The meeting was also quietly observed by families of underride victims and administrative officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
  25. The March Madness of Competing Traffic Safety Interests What is it like to compete for the attention of government leaders in order to get traction on the traffic safety problem which took your loved one’s life? Envision a press conference on a hot topic where a cacophony of reporters can be heard shouting out — vying for the opportunity to have their question be the one that gets answered.
  26. Time for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman Almost five years ago, after delivering a Vision Zero Petition to leaders in Washington, D.C., I realized that we need something more than a White House Vision Zero Task Force and a National Vision Zero Goal. We need a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to be at the helm of a nationwide network of community traffic safety advocates. Someone who will have a place at the federal table — with the authority to take ongoing action on behalf of vulnerable victims of vehicle violence.
  27. Will NHTSA & NTSB Address Side Underride Factor In Latest Tesla Crash Investigation? I have again requested that NHTSA and NTSB address the side underride factor in their investigation of yet another Tesla side underride crash.
  28. Truck Underride Victims & Families Host News Conference for STOP Underrides Act Introduction On Monday, March 8, 2021, truck crash victims’ families hosted a news conference to discuss their stories and the recent introduction of the STOP Underrides Act of 2021 — on March 4, 2021 in the Senate and March 8 in the House.
  29. Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force On a Friday afternoon — February 26, 2021 — over 50 people met via Zoom to discuss comprehensive underride protection. The purpose of the meeting was to report on progress which has been made by several subcommittees since an earlier meeting in 2020 — including Industry Engagement, Research, and Engineering Subcommittees.
  30. Should we be concerned about side guards getting hung up on railroad tracks? I keep hearing members of the trucking industry bring up the possibility of side guards on trailers getting hung-up on railroad tracks. They point to it as a reason to not require side guards on all new trucks. Is that a valid concern? And where is their documentation?
  31. Transport Companies Provide Feedback on Side Guard Operational Issues We know that the trucking industry has expressed concern about potential operational issues which could occur when side guards are installed on large trucks. In order to address those concerns, we asked several trucking companies to give us feedback about their experience after installing side guards on their tractor-trailers.
  32. Consensus Side Guard Standard On April 17, 2020, over 40 people participated in a virtual meeting of a volunteer Underride Protection Committee’s “Side Guard Task Force.” This included two engineers from trailer manufacturers. As a follow-up, several subcommittees began to hold virtual meetings, including an Underride Engineering Subcommittee.
  33. Utility Trailers Encourages Retrofit of Rear Impact Guards To Prevent Underride Last evening, I received some amazing news! Utility Trailer Manufacturing has announced that their improved Rear Impact Guard (RIG) will be offered at a discount.
  34. FMCSA Proposed Rule For Inspection of Rear Underride Guards A red letter day: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at long last has proposed a rule to add rear underride guards to Appendix G. What does that mean? It means that rear underride guards will be required to be in good condition in order to pass an annual vehicle inspection. Once the rule is actually issued.
  35. “Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
  36. Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride It is to their credit that nine U.S. trailer manufacturers have improved their rear underride guard design to meet the IIHS TOUGHGuard standard and seven of them are putting it on all new trailers as Standard. What that means is that they have surpassed the current federal standard and have been crash tested to show that they are more likely to prevent underride and catastrophic Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) — thereby more likely to save lives when passenger vehicles rear end tractor-trailers.
  37. Save Lives by Lighting up Tractor-Trailers & Tanker Trucks Truck drivers can play an important role in making sure that the trailers which they haul are as visible as possible to other drivers on the road — especially at nighttime. On October 15, 2018, Leslie and Sophie Rosenberg lost their lives when they collided with the side of a tanker late at night.
  38. Truck Driver Mistakes Don’t Excuse Industry & Government Negligence To Solve Underride Problem Thanksgiving Eve, another apparent underride victim lost her life: Though the truck driver may have made a mistake, not all the blame rests with him for a crash which might have had a different outcome with effective underride protection. Carriers, trailer manufacturers, DOT, & Congress can make these kinds of truck crashes more survivable.
  39. A fully-guarded trailer hits the road – ready to STOP underride! Engineering ingenuity and a lot of hard work went into the research, development, and installation of this fully-guarded trailer system. This week, a small carrier in North Carolina became part of our pilot program. We are thankful that they have agreed to provide us feedback on this #SaferTruck as they drive it on the road to carry out their transport business.
  40. On August 19, we hosted another Underride Staff Briefing — this time via Zoom. We are providing Congressional Offices with the PowerPoint pdf from that presentation, including comments from engineers with expertise in underride as well as underride families: Underride Briefing PowerPoint pdf (inc. links to resources & video)
  41. Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020
  42. Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event Read more here.
  43. Comparison Chart of Underride Provisions in Various Bills
  44. A quick look at some of the more recent efforts to STOP underride tragedies: Update on Underride News
  45. SOCIAL MEDIA: #STOPunderrides Tweets & Facebook Pages: STOP Underrides Act of 2019 and Save Lives/Stop Underrides., AnnaLeah&MaryforTruckSafety , stopunderrides.org
  46. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.

They paid the price:

We Have Never Before Had a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman

Safety Advocacy, , , ,

On September 3, 1969, according to the Congressional Record from that day, Congress discussed plans to fund and expand the National Traffic & Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Although we have made progress since that time, still today there are way too many people dying on our roads. We have not made it a national priority to address these deaths and serious injuries.

A National Traffic Safety Act of 2019 would provide a framework for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to oversee a Towards Zero Traffic Safety Task Force of diverse stakeholders to collaborate for Safer Vehicles, Safer Trucks, Safer Streets, and Safer Drivers to address the national public health and traffic safety crisis in order to make a significant reduction of the 36,560 annual traffic-related deaths in the United States (2018).

Russell Mokhiber, Corporate Crime Reporter, published an interview on this proposed strategy on October 29: Marianne Karth Calls for Creation of National Traffic Safety Ombudsman.

Congress, the ball is in your court: Will you act now to end these deaths?

PETITION: End Preventable Crash Fatalities: Appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman

National Traffic Safety Act of 2019 Brochure inc. LINKS

GAO & CRS Analysis on Ombudsman

National Traffic Safety Act (Ombudsman) DRAFT 3

National Traffic Safety Act of 2019 DRAFT 11

Compelling Documentary Tells the Stories of Underride Victims: Save Lives – STOP Underrides!

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , , , , , ,

We are thankful to Cool Breeze Studio for creating this recently-released underride documentary — telling the stories of underride victims to shed light on this preventable problem.

DC Underride Crash Test Event Media Alert 032218

“Emergency Medical Care for Crash Victims” by Lou Lombardo & Traffic Safety Facts 2016 from NHTSA

Safety Advocacy, , , ,
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
 
On the 4th of July holiday, Legal Reader has published an article I submitted to them pro bono on this subject. 
 
 
Historically each and every holiday weekend, hundreds have died and thousands have suffered vehicle injuries.  And all across the country emergency medical teams are activated to save people while often endangering themselves.
 
This article calls attention to GM OnStar’s latest ad campaign, NHTSA’s call for information to improve EMS, and possible upgraded national attention by DOD and HHS to improving trauma care in the U.S.A — which the American people have long needed.
 
It is that need which I, and many others, have worked on for decades and led to the creation of “Care for Crash Victims.”
 
On July 3rd, 2018, NHTSA published its annual report Traffic Safety Facts 2016 copy attached. {See below.} The statistics on pp. 16 and 17 show that fatalities and fatality rates per 100,000 people have been rising the past decade.
 
Let’s hope that we are closer to making substantial advances because we can and we must do better and save more lives.
 
Lou Lombardo

Applying AI & Procedural Generation to Traffic Safety #ProceduralGeneration #AI #trafficsafety

Uncategorized, ,

Each part of my life is somehow interwoven with the others. Today our oldest son, Isaac Karth, is on his way to give a presentation on a paper which he wrote:  WaveFunctionCollapse is Constraint Solving in the Wild .

He also writes a blog on Procedural Generation: http://procedural-generation.tumblr.com/ .  “In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually. In computer graphics, it is also called random generation and is commonly used to create textures and 3D models. In video games, it is used to automatically create large amounts of content in a game.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation ) And in a few weeks he will start on his PhD in Computational Media. So why am I writing about that here?

  1. Last night, he gave us a sneak preview of his presentation. While very informative, it is such an involved topic and one I don’t work with directly. So I had to concentrate hard to grasp what he was saying, but it gave me ideas about things which do impact me more directly.
  2. He also shared an Abstract he is writing for another paper/presentation. The gist of it is that World Building with ideas, which can then be used to tell stories, can also be created by Generators through the Procedural Generation process (okay, don’t count on my description of it).
  3. What that made me think of was AnnaLeah’s colorful “worlds” of characters (names and their relationships) which she created in her mind and on paper — fully intending to use them to tell stories. [I wrote about that on October 17, 2013 — a few months after the crash: The Apple of His Eye.] She never had a chance to take it any further. Maybe procedural generation could capture a glimpse of the possibilities of what she might have unfolded for us to enjoy. [Unrealized Potential ]
  4. One of the things which Isaac wants to leave with his audience of researchers is the idea that they can benefit from paying attention to how others out there in the Procedural Generation world are coming up with new ideas for tools to execute procedural generation projects and ways to apply them.

Again, why am I writing about that here?

  1. I’d like to know how procedural generation tools might be made use of to further the mandate, research & design, and installation of comprehensive underride protection.
  2. I’d also like to know how it could be put to effective use in other areas of traffic safety — e.g., to bring about a paradigm shift in how the trucking industry utilizes and protects the well-being of truck drivers , while at the same time improving the safety of other road users. Win/Win.
  3. Finally, I’d like to know how procedural generation could be put to use to create an elaborate interactive personal crash story map, as well as an interactive personal traffic safety risk digital tool to raise awareness, educate, and mobilize citizens to be part of the solution to end preventable vehicle violence. [And it could then become a required part of every driver training course, driver license testing {how much better than memorizing blood alcohol levels or points on your record} and of every application for car insurance — with periodic updates before getting your license or insurance renewed. Well, why not?]

Let’s do what we can to make the system safer — including developing and utilizing crash avoidance technologies to reduce the possibility of crashes happening. But let’s not leave the human nature of the driver totally out of the picture. Let’s keep working to make sure that drivers stay engaged in the highly-complex process of driving vehicles (especially large trucks) — not less so!

Let’s figure out what can be done to make that happen  — a matter of both personal and societal responsibility.

And don’t forget: Continue to make the vehicles more crashworthy — so that when crashes do occur, they will be more survivable!

Complex Nature of National Traffic Death Circumstances Calls for Creative & Collaborative Strategy

Safety Advocacy,

It is apparent to me that the complex nature of circumstances which result in one traffic/vehicle tragedy after another calls for a creative and collaborative response:

  1. It requires both personal and societal responsiveness to the problem. We are all part of the problem; we must all become part of the solution.
  2. Government and industry must not only acknowledge the extent of the problem but also their role to address it comprehensively.
  3. We must determine to what extent we value human life and health. Are we willing to pay the price to end preventable deaths?
  4. If so, then we need to find ways to appropriately share the cost of implementing safety measures.

Posts related to this:

I know that many people and organizations are already doing many things to make our roads safer. But is there anything that could be done which could have widespread impact and bring about changes more quickly? I think so.

I have summarized my thoughts here:

  1. Set a National Vision Zero Goal: Driverless Policy Making by Roger Lanctot and  Last night, Pres. Obama referred in the past tense to crash fatalities as a public health problem. and  National Vision Zero Goal: Unifying Force in Development of Automated Vehicles 
  2. Establish a National Vision Zero Task Force: Let’s establish a White House Task Force to Achieve a Vision Zero Goal of Crash Death Reduction
  3. Sign a Vision Zero Executive Order to authorize Vision Zero Rulemaking:  https://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Executive-Order-Draft-Application-of-Vision-Zero-Principles-to-Highway-Safety-Regulatory-Review.pdf
  4. Appoint a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman: Traffic Safety Ombudsman (Advocate); Missing piece of Vision Zero Strategy
  5. Catalyze citizens to become part of the solution through a nationwide network of Vision Zero/Traffic Safety community groups: Vision Zero Nationwide Network of Traffic Safety Advocacy Groups: Communities Working to Save Lives

And here’s my project proposal to accomplish many of those things!  https://annaleahmary.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ALMFTS-Traffic-Safety-Ombudsman-Project-Proposal.pdf

What is an acceptable goal? North Carolina Vision Zero

Safety Advocacy, , ,

“We went around the state to talk to people about Vision Zero. We’re happy to announce a new video which explains why zero is the only acceptable goal. ”

Tracy Anderson, NC Vision Zero Coordinator

Institute for Transportation Research & Education (ITRE)
North Carolina State University

“Michael Bloomberg: Automakers, developing nations must commit to auto safety”

Safety Advocacy, , , ,

Michael Bloomberg calls on automakers to do their part to reduce crash deaths globally:

If car crashes were an infectious disease, like malaria or polio, governments, international aid organizations and foundations would pour money and energy into stopping it — as is only right.  If that kind of determination is brought to bear on road crashes, we can save millions of lives and prevent untold amounts of heartache and grief. 

Michael Bloomberg: Automakers, developing nations must commit to auto safety, June 4, 2017, Detroit Free Press

The murderous potential of vehicles & apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads

Safety Advocacy, , ,

When searching for Tweets with the hashtag #roadsafety — which by the way seems to be more commonly mentioned outside of the U.S. — I ran across some interesting articles:

  • The rules of the road exist to keep us safe. Why aren’t we enforcing them? by  A motorway collision with a lorry showed me how easy it is for disaster to strike – and raised my fear that excessive risk has been normalised. . . So, while you could argue that its road safety record allows the UK to coast awhile, you might also think about the two recent court cases and whether we pay due regard to the murderous potential of our vehicles. And then you might reasonably ask whether, with more rigorous enforcement, not only those serious accidents that have made the news could have been avoided, but also the many more minor ones such as ours. And who is best served by the apparent normalisation of life-threatening recklessness on our roads.
  • These Two Women Designed A 3D Zebra Crossing In Gujarat And It’s One Of A Kind! by  SOUVIK RAY Artists Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya from Ahmedabad designed something innovative that not only serves an artistic purpose but ensures road safety for pedestrians. The motto was to increase the attention of drivers through new flat patterns of Zebra Crossings.