Tag Archives: underride guards

The Passion of This Safety Advocate

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , ,

It gets really tiresome to hear the trucking industry come up with the same statements time after time after time.

Nearly every time I read an article written about our crash, there are the obligatory responses from the trucking industry. Invariably, they try to shift the responsibility off of themselves to make the changes sought after and, instead, bring up some alternative solution to the “problem.”

This can be seen in the latest article by Bloomberg News about our story and underride guards: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-16/dead-girls-mom-says-100-truck-fix-may-have-saved-them.html

“‘The passion that Karth brings to the debate won’t necessarily solve the problem,’ said Sean McNally, a spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, the industry’s largest advocacy group. ‘Instead, regulators will be more effective if they focus on such measures as crash-avoidance technology and such simple steps as education to encourage better driving by both trucks and cars.

“’All crashes are tragic, and as a result discussions about highway safety are often touched by strong emotions,’ McNally said. ‘However, we should not use emotions as the basis for regulations. Regulations need to be grounded on strong research, science and data.’”

What does he think the problem is?! And has he even bothered to look at the strong research, science, and data reported on by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) regarding underride guards? Does he truly think that this is an either/or situation?

He just doesn’t seem to get it. He thinks the passion is simply my deep grief over the loss of my daughters. He doesn’t have a clue that that very real pain is amplified by anger and frustration over the callous attitude and denial of responsibility that too often is expressed by spokespersons of the trucking industry–and which, of course, gets played out in their decisions and actions on matters related to safety.

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Underride Guards; Let’s Move Forward In 2015

Truck Safety, ,

I heard back tonight from David Friedman, deputy director of the NHTSA. (See previous post for my email to him earlier today. https://annaleahmary.com/2014/12/trucking-fatalities-increase-for-fourth-year-in-a-row-hours-of-service-rules-rolled-back/ )

This is what he said, “Thank you for reaching out.

“We are heartened to see overall progress, but as Secretary Foxx said today on a call with reporters, ‘32,719 lives were lost on our roads in 2013. And even one is far too many.’

“And as I noted, ‘As we work each day at NHTSA, these are tragic reminders of the importance of our efforts and how we must build on our many successes and continue to work even harder to protect the American public.’

“And yes, fatalities involving large trucks is one of the areas of disappointment because we saw an increase. We are working hard on multiple steps to turn that around, from electronic stability control, speed limiters, vehicle-to-vehicle technology and more. And, as you know, another area we are trying to make progress is on underride guards.”

On the matter of underride guards, he said, “The schedule is for an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on rear impact protection for straight trucks to tentatively move forward around the beginning of the year and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on rear impact protection for trailers to tentatively move forward around the middle of the year.”

Here is the recent Bloomberg News article on our story & underride guards: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-16/dead-girls-mom-says-100-truck-fix-may-have-saved-them.html

I hope that 2015 will bring vast improvement in preventing ghastly deaths from underride.

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Bloomberg News: In-Depth Reports on Trucking Safety Issues

Truck Safety, , , ,

Check out these in-depth articles on issues related to safety on the road.

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IIHS Reports on New Crash Testing for Improved Underride Guards

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , , ,

IIHS October 2014 Status Report Article First Page

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has just released a report on recent crash testing for one trailer manufacturer’s improved design for their rear underride guard. Vanguard has now passed the 50% overlap test–with testing still needed for the more narrow overlap test at the edges of the trailer’s guard.

Additional companies have plans to get their guards tested in the future.

Our story is featured in this fall’s edition of the organization’s Status Report. We are thankful for their efforts to research and report on this vital truck safety issue. Their previous reports helped us to better understand the weakness of the current federal regulations for underride guards.

Read the report here: IIHS Status Report October 2014

Also, the Truck Safety Coalition has issued a press release on this issue:  http://trucksafety.org/press-release-industry-makes-improvements-while-rule-for-better-underride-languishes/

Link to IIHS Status Report Issues: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr

November 2015 IIHS Status Report with an update on Single Unit Truck Underride Rulemaking:  http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/50/9/2

 

IIHS October 2014 Status Report Cover

The Rest of the Story

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

If you took the time to read about our crash in the Bloomberg News article published today, please don’t stop there. I want you to understand the entire scope of our concern about truck safety; and it is NOT all about being upset with the truck drivers.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-01/mom-takes-on-truckers-after-highway-wreck-kills-daughters.html

Please read the post I wrote back in July, called “Our Crash Was Not An Accident.” It summarizes what I am trying to say and why, if we really want changes made in truck safety, we cannot just read and talk and complain about it.

We need to solve this problem together.

 https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/our-crash-was-not-an-accident/

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Investigative Report on Underride Guards in Atlanta

AnnaLeah and Mary, Truck Safety, , , ,

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Jim Strickland, consumer investigator with WSB-TV in Atlanta, looked into underride guard problems in November 2013 in the Atlanta area and reported on them: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/youll-never-look-tractor-trailers-same-way-again/nb4Kf/

Here is his newscast in April 2014 after the National Transportation Safety Board issued their recommendations to NHTSA to improve underride guards:http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/ntsb-recommending-safety-device-big-rigs-after-cha/nfZYM/

When he found out that NHTSA had initiated a rulemaking process for underride guards, he wanted to do an update. He called me yesterday at 11 a.m. for a phone interview.

His report on underride guards,  our crash, and the AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition was on WSB-TV Atlanta’s evening news yesterday in two parts first at 4:45 p.m. and the second part at 6:15 p.m.: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/families-seek-reduce-fatal-tractor-trailer-acciden/ngtnD and http://bcove.me/vfrhezzh

Petition Photo Bags at DOT, best

 

Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., Comments on NHTSA & Underride Guards

Truck Safety, ,

Safety Research & Strategies, Inc., makes note of the NHTSA initiation of rulemaking on underride guards.

 http://www.safetyresearch.net/blog/articles/nhtsa-finally-tackles-rear-underride#overlay-context=blog/articles/nhtsa-finally-tackles-rear-underride

While they provided a good summary of the history of underride guard regulation, I would like to note that they apparently overlooked NHTSA’s mention of an underride guard petition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the Footnotes of the Federal Register announcement.

 https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-guards-rear-impact-protection

 

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Clarifying the ATA Position on Underride Guards

Truck Safety, ,

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After last week’s announcement by NHTSA of their initiation of the rulemaking process for underride guards, I have had four interviews. So far, I have seen two of the articles and both of them included a statement, obtained from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which disturbed me when I read them. I posted about it and you can read my thoughts here:

 https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/underride-guards-in-the-news/

Not wanting to misrepresent the trucking industry, yesterday, I decided to call the person who was quoted, Ted Scott, the Director of Engineering Services with ATA. I told him why I was calling, shared our story, and we spent some time discussing underride guards. I then asked if I could send him the article, in which he was quoted, as well as information about our website and links to underride guard information. In my email, I also asked him to write a few sentences to clarify his statement about underride guards.

In response, this morning I received this email from Ted Scott:

 Ted Scott, ATA, email July 2014

 Well, I was excited to have him get back to me on this matter and quickly let him know that I appreciated it:

 Ted Scott, ATA, email July 2014 My Reply

 

From what I have observed, too often, needed changes have been prevented or delayed by resistance or opposition–for whatever reason, whether it be misunderstanding, misinformation, or differing priorities. In my mind, that makes this promise of support and cooperation by the American Trucking Associations super significant!

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Yes!

(p.s. I hope that Mary would think that I am making good use of her joie de vivre!)

Underride Guards in the News

Truck Safety, ,

Manac vs competitor crash test photos 001

Truck safety issues are certainly in the news of late…

If ever I realized how important it is to say what you mean and mean what you say, I surely do so now! Following last week’s announcement of the NHTSA rulemaking process on underride guards, I have had 3 interviews–two via phone and one in person. I appreciate the willingness of these reporters to give this topic coverage.
Here is the newscast from one of those interviews with Kara Kenney RTV6:
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/call-6-investigators/feds-evaluating-safety-of-truck-underride-guards

I am again disturbed by industry comments such as I see in this newscast:

“The trucking industry and manufacturers are not sure stricter federal regulations are needed – especially since many are voluntarily using tougher underride guards.

‘Underride guards are helpful in reducing the impact of cars crashing into trucks. We would however much prefer to see NHTSA focus on providing automobiles with the capability of preventing cars crashing into trucks,’ said Ted Scott, director of engineering for the American Trucking Associations, Inc. ‘Crash or collision avoidance technology can go a long [ways] in helping to eliminate rear end crashes. Educating automobile drivers on how to share the road with a truck is also very helpful in reducing rear end collisions.’

Jeff Sims, president of the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, said TTMA supports the review.”

What is Ted Scott saying? Is he actually saying he wants NHTSA to do the one thing [crash avoidance technology] instead of the other [improved underride guards]? Sure, that would take the pressure and focus off of the trucking industry’s responsibility.

It seems to me that what he said is kind of like saying, “It is more important to concentrate on eliminating crashes, so don’t worry about protecting people who experience crashes (for example by doing such things as inventing and requiring the installation of things like airbags, seatbelts, and IMPROVED underride guards).” Is it really an either/or situation? Why is he presenting it as if it is?

On top of that, the ATA and TTMA statements convey the impression that if many manufacturers [Note: Not All.] are already exceeding federal standards, then everything is hunky dory, no need for change–hundreds of deaths a year from underride crashes are meaningless, especially if we can decide to lay the blame on the car driver anyway.  And what do they have to say about the fact that most of those same manufacturers, who may be exceeding the current federal standards [perhaps 7 out of 8], did not pass all of the IIHS crash tests in 2013 (i.e., if their trailers had been in real crashes, the occupants probably would have died)?!

 

If, as a spokesperson of the trucking industry, he is reflecting a general attitude which impacts daily decisions and actions, this is very distressing to me.

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Truck Safety Needs Bipartisan Support: Protecting its citizens is one of the basic purposes of government

Truck Safety, , , , , , , , , , ,

I would have to say that I prefer smaller government. But I do think that protecting its citizens is one of the basic purposes of government. “Truck safety” is, for the most part, about protecting travelers on the road. It is a public health problem and should get bipartisan support. http://www.laissez-fairerepublic.com/benson.htm

You know, I lost my youngest two daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13), due to a truck crash on May 4, 2013. That’s what made me become a passionate advocate for safer roads. That is why I became convinced that this problem needs to be addressed in a big way. That’s why I think that a federal task force might be what is needed to tackle this issue: https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/our-crash-was-not-an-accident/

Our petition site is still open…’though we are doing nothing to promote it, people are still finding it and signing it in support of “truck safety.” 11,415 and counting (plus 150 mailed-in signatures):

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/501/869/stand-up-for-truck-safety.

When the going gets rough and I feel like forgetting about it all, this is what I remember:  http://youtu.be/FyhJdl1oD24