It’s a mathematical reality. The STOP Underrides! Bill was introduced in the Senate and the House on December 12, 2017. If it had been voted on and passed [even as quickly as in one month like the TREAD Act was in October 2000 in response to deaths from Firestone tires on the Ford Explorer], then the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would already be moving ahead with the process of issuing a comprehensive underride protection rule.
But it has not been brought to a vote. Reportedly, Republican Congressional Offices, and the Committees to which the Bill was referred, are waiting to hear the results of the Governmental Accountability Underride Report (GAO) — predicted to be completed by the end of January 2019.
I’m not sure exactly what people expect to learn from that report which we have not already discovered and of which we have made them fully aware — including the IIHS research, the undercounting of underrides (through studies and through errors in how our own crashes are listed in FARS reports), industry and government awareness of the problem for decades (e.g., stated intention on March 19, 1969, of adding side underride protection), ATA prediction of underride regulations 16 years ago, and NTSB underride recommendations, for starters.
No doubt about it, blood continues to be spilled on the roadways while we twiddle our thumbs. How many people do you suppose will die from Death By Underride because of this totally unwarranted delay? Possibly 700 – 2,338. Are these lives not worth saving?
Underride Deaths Not Prevented During Delay
In Passing the STOP Underrides! Bill
(These numbers do not include injuries caused by underride.)
|
Months of Delay in Passing the Bill To Date |
Deaths/month (if using the FARS data minimum of reported underride deaths) 600/yr. & 50/mo. |
Deaths/mo. (27%) 1500/yr. & 125/mo. |
Deaths/mo. (50% of total truck/car crash fatalities) 2,000/yr & 167/mo. |
|
January 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
February 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
March 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
April 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
May 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
June 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
Total Already Dead Since the Introduction of the Bill on 12/12/2017 |
300 |
750 |
1002 |
|
July 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
August 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
September 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
October 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
November 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
December 2018 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
January 2019 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
February 2019 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
March 2019 |
50 |
125 |
167 |
|
Additional Underride Deaths While Waiting for the GAO Report to be finished before making a decision about voting on the bill |
400 |
1000 |
1336 |
|
TOTAL since bill was introduced through March 2019 |
700 |
1750 |
2338 |
Underride Deaths Not Prevented During Delay
Whom do you suppose we should hold responsible for those deaths? Or to put it in another way, who will be Bold Guardians — rather than Hesitant Bystanders — and insist that this bill is long-overdue and needs to be given high priority to vote upon and pass into law?
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. John Donne
