Tag Archives: underride guards

“Advocates garnering signatures” Rocky Mount Reporter Tells Our Story

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety,

A local reporter from the Rocky Mount Telegram, Brie Handgraaf,  has followed our story ever since shortly after our truck crash in May 2013. We had been living in Rocky Mount for less than a year after moving here from West Texas. She has skillfully told the story of our girls, our crash, and our efforts to bring about change in highway safety.

Shortly after we launched our Vision Zero Petition, she interviewed Jerry and I again to find out the details of our second online petition–after having closely followed our first petition in 2014–as well as our efforts to promote improved underride guards through underride research.

Her article was just published online and, as usual, she did an excellent job of telling our story in a way that enlightens the reader:  https://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/advocates-garnering-signatures-3009111

The newspaper is still working to make the article accessible online. Until then, you can read the article here: https://annaleahmary.com/2015/10/advocates-garnering-signatures-front-page-story-in-rocky-mount-telegram-almost-11000-signatures/

I want to clarify a few points so that there is no misunderstanding.

  • First of all, while the Secretary of Transportation in 1974 indicated that underride deaths would have to quadruple before underride protection would be considered cost-beneficial, the federal standards have been improved since that time. However, the problem is that it has been shown that the current standards, required as of 1998, are known to be weak and ineffective–resulting in many preventable underride deaths each year. Our concern is that the new rulemaking being considered now for the purpose of improving underride guards might likewise be judged to not be cost effective–as is hinted at in NHTSA’s preliminary Cost-Benefit Analysis in this document on Single Unit Trucks: “While not directly comparable, the preliminary estimates for rear impact guards on SUTs (minimum of $106.7 million per equivalent lives saved) is a strong indicator that these systems will not be cost effective (current VSL $9.2 million).”   https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/07/23/2015-17973/rear-impact-protection-lamps-reflective-devices-and-associated-equipment-single-unit-trucks
  • Secondly, although we have received a research proposal from Dean Sicking for the design and testing of an underride protection system, at this time he does not have the funding to do the research. So, unless we are able to raise the money for his underride research project, it will not be carried out and we will not be able to find out if his ideas could be more effective than the current underride guard standards and save lives.
  • Finally, we have been in contact with some people from Australia–although not specifically from the Transport Accident Commission which produced the “Toward Zero” Youtube video: https://youtu.be/bsyvrkEjoXI The people we have talked with are two research engineers from Australia, George Rechnitzer and Raphael Grzebieta, of the Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research unit at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). They have researched and tested designs for improved underride guards and we are hopeful that they will be able to share their findings in the U.S. at our Underride Roundtable.

It is our hope that the research and commitment of many individuals and organizations around the globe, together with a call for a more compassionate Vision Zero approach to regulating highway safety will make an impact. We hope that many will come to understand these issues and join us in calling for change.

8 Picture 657

AnnaLeah & Mary on a walk in Battle Park in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where they lived for less than a year before the crash on May 4, 2013 ended their lives.

Sign & Share our Vision Zero Petition:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Support Underride Research: https://www.fortrucksafety.com/

 

Additional Public Comments on Underride Protection for Single Unit Trucks

Truck Safety, , ,

Here is the complete list of comments:  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;dct=PS;D=NHTSA-2015-0070

Here are the most recent comments added to the ANPRM for Underride Protection of Single Unit Trucks after the Public Comment Period was extended for 30 days until November 5, 2015.

Not sure how this is going to prevent people from driving into the rear of a truck… Maybe more money should be spent on educating drivers when they get their…”
View Comment

Submitter Name: Anonymous
Posted: 10/08/2015
ID: NHTSA-2015-0070-0061
I am not apposed to putting on reflective tape on the side rails or boxes of straight trucks, but as for the rear guard what is going to be the rule for…”
View Comment

Submitter Name: Johnson, Paul
Posted: 10/08/2015
ID: NHTSA-2015-0070-0059
As a long-time transportation industry professional, it is my opinion that CMVs should not be exempt from “bumper height” or any other safety regulations. The…”
View Comment

Submitter Name: Gislason, John
Posted: 10/08/2015
ID: NHTSA-2015-0070-0060
Re: Conspicuity Rules. When the rules for class 8 vehicles were implemented, I operated a private fleet operating, primarily, east of the Mississippi river…”
View Comment

Submitter Name: Schafer, Robert
Posted: 10/08/2015
ID: NHTSA-2015-0070-0058
September 21, 2015 Docket Management Facility, M-30 U.S. Department of Transportation West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE…”
View Comment

Submitter Name: Kearney, Brendan
Posted: 09/28/2015
ID: NHTSA-2015-0070-0054

 

Act now to save someone’s life in the future.

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, ,

I look forward to my peaceful, healing walks through the wood on the Rocky Mount Disc Golf Course (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=11&v=ErAOZ31KpNg ).

Just one thing wrong with them though–I long for Mary and AnnaLeah to be able to enjoy them as well.

https://annaleahmary.com/2015/09/i-discovered-a-new-pastime-frisbeedisc-golf-course/

If I could be a Time Traveler, could I go back — say ten years or so — and push for Vision Zero policies, principles, and projects, and then maybe AnnaLeah  and Mary would still be with us today?

Sign & Share the Vision Zero Petition to make a difference. Who knows, you could be saving someone’s life ten years from now:  http://tinyurl.com/nhb88cq .

Petition screenshot 005

 

11 Picture 72212 Picture 724

 Also, see how we are applying Vision Zero principles to stop unnecessary truck underride deaths: http://tinyurl.com/ofbe5kg .

Underride Research Meme

THE FIVE WAYS ENGINEERS DEFLECT CRITICISM

Truck Safety, , ,

Interesting read on how some engineers respond to criticism. . . by Charles Marohn, who is himself an engineer.

http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/10/5/the-five-ways-engineers-deflect-criticism

Charles lists the 5 most common lines he has heard, including:

  1. “YOU DON’T HAVE A VALID OPINION IF YOU’RE NOT A LICENSED ENGINEER.”
  2. “THERE ISN’T ENOUGH MONEY TO DO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.”
  3. “WE CAN’T ELIMINATE ALL RISKS. ‘. . .With the odd exception, the public does not have an expectation that all risks can be eliminated. There is an odd incoherence, however. . .'”
  4. “IT IS THE POLITICIANS THAT ARE TO BLAME. ENGINEERS JUST FOLLOW ORDERS.”
  5. “THIS REALLY IS A MATTER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, NOT ENGINEERING.”

In fact, I am looking forward to working with professionals, industry representatives, safety advocates, government officials, and victims as a team next May at our Underride Roundtable to solve the underride problem together and aim for Vision Zero Crash Deaths one life at a time. I am ready to deflect all arguments that it cannot be done. The Best Possible Protection.

Sign & Share our Vision Zero Petition:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Underride Research–It Can Be Done! https://www.fortrucksafety.com/

PetitionHeader_option2

Rear Impact Guards for Single Unit Trucks: Public Comment Period Reopened for 30 days

Truck Safety, ,

NHTSA has re-opened the Public Comments period on the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Underride Protection on Single Unit Trucks. For 30 days until 11/5/2015.

So, if you have not yet made a Public Comment on this important issue, you now have an opportunity to do so.

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/10/06/2015-25377/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-protection-lamps-reflective-devices-and

“This document reopens the comment period for a July 23, 2015 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that NHTSA issued in response to a petition for rulemaking from Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition relating to rear impact (underride) guards. The original comment period closed September 21, 2015. The agency is reopening the comment period for 30 days.”

“Reopening of Comment Period

NHTSA is reopening the comment period for the ANPRM for 30 days. (2) NHTSA believes that a 30 day period is sufficient and balances the interests of encouraging public participation in the rulemaking process with the desire to not unnecessarily delay key decisions by NHTSA about the rulemaking and attainment of the potential societal benefits associated with a final rule.

Accordingly, the public comment closing dates for DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0070 (RIN 2127-AL57) is reopened for 30 days as indicated in theDATESsection of this document. NHTSA notes that the 30 day period is in addition to the time that has passed since the original September 21 comment closing date until today. Thus, all in all, more than 30 days has been provided. It is further noted that the agency will consider late comments to the extent possible.

Authority

49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117 and 30166; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95.

Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2015-25377 Filed 10-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P

Footnotes

(1) As noted in the ANPRM (80 FR at 43664), in the near future NHTSA will be issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on improving the standards’ performance requirements for guards on all vehicles subject to the standards.”

Trip North May 2015 035

Comments on the Federal Register can be seen here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=NHTSA-2015-0070

You can also see the Public Comments on these posts: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/suts/

 

Tools For Getting Your Local Media On Board With Vision Zero & Underride Research

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

In the aftermath of our crash, we have found ourselves walking a path we had not anticipated–safety advocacy. We have discovered the importance of raising awareness and gaining support in order to bring about life-saving changes.

After all, we had no idea about what truck underride guards were before May 4, 2013. How could we expect anyone else to know about them and understand what we were talking about unless we found every way imaginable to inform and motivate them to care about this issue–thankfully, never as much as we do.

So what I would like to talk about here is what you can do about it once you (the reader) better understand the ideas and importance behind our quest for Vision Zero, underride guards, and crash avoidance technology.

Specifically, what you can do is:

  1. Become informed about what we are talking about so incessantly.
  2. Read our Vision Zero Petition.  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/
  3. Read even more about Vision Zero:

    For more information on Vision Zero: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/vision-zero//

    “Towards Zero – There’s no one someone won’t miss.” https://youtu.be/bsyvrkEjoXI

  4. Sign our Vision Zero Petition. (Never doubt the power of 1.)
  5. Share our Vision Zero Petition through talking to people about it, emailing, using whatever social media with which you are comfortable. (There are Sharing icons on The Petition Site.)
  6. Read our new website, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, which is dedicated to informing about underride guards and raising money for underride research and an Underride Roundtable to bring about the best underride protection by bringing together engineers, industry representatives, government officials, safety advocates, insurance companies, victims & their families, and the media.  https://www.fortrucksafety.com/ and https://annaleahmary.com/underride-guards/
  7. Donate to the research. (Every $1 counts.)
  8. Share the website with others.
  9. Share both of these projects with your local media.
  • When possible, look up your local media and make direct contact with them through a phone call, email, or through an online Contact Form.
  • This site has a lot of tools for reaching local media, including a map of the U.S. which allows you to click on your state and then your city and find local media.  http://sparkaction.org/act/media
  • Click on COMPOSE MESSAGE on that site.
  • Once you locate who you can contact in your community, I have written a couple of press releases for you to share with them: Press Release from ALMFTS Vision Zero and Underride Research and Press Release for the Underride Research Fundraising Campaign . These can be copied and pasted into the form provided online on that site.
  • Be sure to let them know how important this is to you and your community as well.
  • Consider making a follow-up phone call.
  • For whatever you are able to do, thank you! And I’d love to hear about it.

We have made numerous contacts with the media as our story has been shared. But we cannot be in your community. Next week there will be an article in our local Rocky Mount newspaper. I will share the link for that with you and you can pass that along to your local media as well.  We are asking you to be an extension of our national plea for the best possible protection.

Note–The news story has now been published online:  https://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/advocates-garnering-signatures-3009111

This is not just some freak problem that will never affect you or someone you love. In fact, a Vision Zero policy in DOT rulemaking could make a big impact in not just truck safety but auto safety as well. Decisions about safety should not be led by profit. Cost/benefit analysis can never adequately measure the value of human life and health.

And, once we establish that our Vision is to reduce crash deaths one life at a time, then we can better hold corporate and government officials accountable. No longer will they be able to sweep unpleasant information about the results of defects and flaws under the rug. No longer can they justify decisions and actions which lead to unnecessary tragedy and/or deny that human life was the cost that was paid.

 

gertie 2947

Gertie reaching for Mary ...Susanna's film

Human lives shouldn’t be a nickel and dime proposition. by Isaac J. Karth

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , ,

My family has been through a lot in the aftermath of our truck crash on May 4, 2013. They each have their own story (some more closely-guarded than others). I was surprised but pleased that one of our sons was able to take the time to express his thoughts in the form of a Comment on our Vision Zero Petition a couple of hours ago.

Isaac said that I could share his comments here:

Isaac Karth, NC
about 2 hours ago

“Three years ago, I was sitting in my apartment, working on my class projects, when I got a phone call that turned my world upside down. My family’s car had been hit by a truck, and I was the first person that the hospital was able to reach. There was a lot of confusion; no one knew where my two sisters who had been in the back seat of the car had been taken.

“I had a pair of dice in my pocket that day, the same pair of dice that I had when my father called me later that evening with the news that my sister had died in the crash. Humans are bad at estimating probabilities. A one-in-a-million chance sounds rare, but that’s close to the odds the NWS reports for being struck by lightning, and 330 Americans are injured that way every year. It’s rare, but it happens. In probability theory, it’s called the law of large numbers. If you roll the dice often enough, or for enough people, the dice are going to come up as ones at a predictable, measurable rate.

“The IIHS reported that in 2013, there were 10.3 deaths from motor vehicle crashes per 100,000 people. That’s about one-in-ten-thousand, way more likely than one-in-a-million. And, unlike other leading causes of death, this is an entirely human-created problem, one that didn’t exist two hundred years ago.

“Automotive safety has been improving over time. But it is still one of the leading causes of death in America. Curing cancer, one of the other leading causes, is expensive and difficult, requiring research just to figure out if it is even possible. In contrast, for motor vehicle deaths there are many cases where we already know simple ways to reduce motor vehicle fatalities, such as effective underride guards, and we have promising research for even more.

“We shouldn’t settle for one-in-ten thousand, or even one-in-a-hundred-thousand. We should strive to be better than that. Human lives shouldn’t be a nickel and dime proposition. Even low chances of death are still too high. I shouldn’t have to roll the dice every time I need to leave my house. I shouldn’t have to wonder, every time my family is out on the road, if today is going to be the day that they roll too many ones again.”

A photo of Mary age 5 taken by her big brother, Isaac
Mary on hammock
Isaac wrote this facebook post on June 19, 2013, in memory of his sister AnnaLeah:

To all the creative people: I recently lost someone close to me. She didn’t know how creative she was and how talented she was becoming, but I did. She didn’t think that she would be able to live up to her siblings. She doubted her talent. She was embarrassed when anyone read her writing. But she kept reading, writing, making.

She was one of the people I relied on to find out about new books. I was counting on her writing the kinds of books I wanted to read. I didn’t realize how much I was expecting from her future until it was gone.

Every death is an irreplaceable loss, but that doesn’t mean we stop living. The absence left behind can’t be filled in this life. That’s all the more reason to build a monument to her memory. I can’t replace her life or her lost works, but I can create my own. They will be different than what could have been, because they’ll be my creations instead of hers. I can’t be her. I can be myself. My works can reflect the life and the hope she believed in, because I have the same hope. I am not justified by my merits (or by hers). I can do my best and no more. That won’t be enough, but it will be right.

To the writers, the readers, the makers, the designers: keep creating. The night will be long and the shadows of your doubts dark. Don’t let that stop you. When you think your work isn’t good enough, it’s a sign to keep going. Your work won’t justify anyone, least of all you, but every creative act that introduces something good to the world is an act of love to those around you.

In memory of those we have lost, and in love to those we have now, I ask you to continue. Keep creating, keep making, keep doing. This is the service you have been given, to love all of creation by creating.

After Isaac signed the Vision Zero Petition and wrote his comment, he shared it on facebook with this message:
 “We’ve made it to over 5,000 signatures, which is pretty nice given that we started last Tuesday. Looking at it, it struck me that number is still less than the number of lives lost this year to vehicle crashes.”
Our Vision Zero Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Be a part of the Underride Solution. Share our story with your local media.

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

Our family had a paper route for 13 yrs.–afternoons during the week & mornings on the weekend. All 9 kids were involved. We know all about getting out the news–rain or shine, hail or white-out!

Tomorrow, our local paper in NC will be publishing an article about AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety & our Vision Zero Petition. Please share the news with your local media so that people in your community can become aware & help our effort. Stay tuned for details; we will post the link.

Note: The article in the Rocky Mount Telegram will actually be delayed until next week due to the storm. Here are some previous articles on our story by Brie Handgraaf.

paper route74f Mary and family dress up (2)

74f Mary and family dress up (4) 74f Mary and family dress up (3)

What would a DOT Vision Zero policy look like in actual implementation?

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , ,

In our petition, we have asked for a paradigm shift in how truck underride guards are regulated. This means that, instead of using a force-based design rule, DOT would require performance-based standards. In other words, when a manufacturer designs an underride protection system for a truck, they would have to crash test it and prove that it could actually withstand a crash.

And we want that to be true for higher speeds than currently required and for impact all along the back of the truck–not just at the center but also at the edges (where the guards currently fail in the majority of crashes). And then, we also want side guards to be a requirement.

A Vision Zero rulemaking policy would mean that Saved Lives would win out over dollars in decisionmaking. In contrast, look at what DOT decided about underride guards in  1974:

  • 1974 US Secretary of Transportation says deaths in cars that underride trucks would have to quadruple before underride protection would be considered cost beneficial.  (History of federal rulemaking on underride guards:  https://annaleahmary.com/underride-guards/ )

In fact, there have been many engineers over the years who have insisted that the guards were weak and ineffective and that stronger guards could be designed. Here are four examples of Vision Zero principles being applied by engineers who are currently hoping to design and/or promote more effective underride protection which would actually save lives:

  1. George Rechnitzer & Raphael Grzebieta, engineers in Australia with whom we have been in contact, have proposed performance-based standards and have done extensive underride research:  NHTSA-Docket-Submission-Grzebieta&Rechnitzer 20 Sept 2015 (or in the Federal Register Public Comments on underride protection for single unit trucks: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0070-0021)
  2. Dean Sicking, an engineer at the University of Alabama, who designed NASCAR’s SAFER Barrier to save lives and is confident that he could apply those principles to underride protection. Here is the research proposal which he has given to us and for which we are raising money so that he can do it!  Development of Trailer Underride Preventive Measures
  3. Aaron Kiefer, a forensic engineer/crash reconstructionist, who has been motivated by the tragic, preventable crash deaths which he witnesses in his work, to design an innovative underride protection system which combines side & rear guard components. We have met him and were able to go see a prototype of his invention on a semi-trailer.  http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0070-0013
  4. IIHS has researched and petitioned for improved underride protection for many years: http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4907.pdf

For further information about Vision Zero, see these additional posts:  https://annaleahmary.com/tag/vision-zero/

 

Catch the Vision: Sign our Vision Zero Petition  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

Petition screenshot 021

 

A Quest for the Best/Support Underride Research: Donate Now  https://www.fortrucksafety.com/

Underride Research Meme

Urge DOT to Adopt a Vision Zero Policy: Save Lives Not Dollars

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

On average, 40,000 people die each year in crashes.  Currently, the Department of Transportation makes highway safety rules based upon how much safety measures will cost. We are hoping to change that and promote a Vision Zero safety strategy model with goals of Zero Deaths, Zero Injuries, Zero Fear of Traffic.

MV-TRAFFIC-FATALITIES(1899-2009)

One of the biggest challenges to making change is the cost/benefit analysis. On the one side there are lives to be saved and on the other side there are companies working to make money. The trick is to try and meet everyone’s needs. The solution has to be effective in saving lives while still being affordable for companies so that they can make the changes necessary without a lot of struggle.

The problem comes in when human life and health get the short end of the stick. The result is that many safety measures are stopped because they would cost more to implement than the “worth” of the “small” number of human lives which would be saved. That’s just not right.

After losing two daughters in a truck underride crash on May 4, 2013, our family made a positive impact one year later by taking over 11,000 signatures on our AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Care2 Petition to DOT in Washington, DC. And we have set up a non-profit to promote highway safety research and federal regulations to protect motorists, pedestrians, & cyclists.

Sign our new petition to let DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx know that we want him to:

1. Change rulemaking policy to move away from an economic-rationalist cost/benefit model and adopt a more humanistic, rational Vision Zero safety strategy model. “Vision Zero states that the loss of human life and health is unacceptable and therefore the road transport system should be designed in a way that such events do not occur.” http://tinyurl.com/9uhzyux

2. Apply Vision Zero principles by requiring crash test-based performance standards for truck underride guards rather than force-based design standards along with success at higher speeds—to include rear (both centered and offset) and side guards for both Single Unit Trucks and trailers.

3. Apply Vision Zero principles by requiring NHTSA to initiate rulemaking to require forward collision avoidance and mitigation braking (F-CAM) systems on all new large trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 lbs. or more.

Please sign & share this petition in memory of AnnaLeah & Mary
and make the roads safer for us all:   http://www.thepetitionsite.com/417/742/234/save-lives-not-dollars-urge-dot-to-adopt-vision-zero-policy/

For more information: https://www.fortrucksafety.com/