Tag Archives: vehicle manufacturers

What if Vehicle Manufacturers were required to do a Crash Reconstruction of crashes involving their vehicles?

Facebook conversation on the topic of proposed UK Road Collision Investigation Branch:  https://www.facebook.com/AnnaLeahandMaryforTruckSafety/posts/1671163723186887

Me: Aaron Kiefer​, what do you think of this idea?
https://annaleahmary.com/2017/04/why-we-believe-the-creation-of-a-road-collision-investigation-branch-is-urgently-needed/

Aaron Kiefer : I like it, but it’s all a matter of resources and priorities. Volvo has a crash recon team that analyzes all accidents involving Volvos within a radius of Gothenburg…

AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety: So, what would be the most effective use of resources to reduce deadly crashes? So, Volvo has their own team? What would it look like if every Vehicle Manufacturer put some of their profit into safety in the form of a Crash Reconstruction Team of crashes involving their vehicles? That is the sort of thing which I called for in our Vision Zero Petition Book.

AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety:  Here is a quote from that book: “The current means of regulating the manufacture of underride guards requires the trailer manufacturer to design its underride guards to meet certain specifications. Once the manufacturer has met those requirements, then, currently, it cannot normally be held liable for any failure of the guard to withstand a crash–along with any resultant property damages, injuries, or death.

We would like to propose a change in the approach to regulating truck underride guards. We are requesting/recommending that the manufacturer be required to design and crash test a guard which would withstand a crash at any speed up to 50 mph and at any point along the back of the trailer.

Furthermore, we are requesting that, when a real-life underride crash does occur with one of their trucks, the manufacturer be held financially responsible for the cost of a thorough crash reconstruction, which would identify—at minimum—the speed which was traveled and whether the guard gave way with the impact of the crash.

With this new approach to regulating underride guards, the manufacturer would thereby be accountable for any failure of the guard to withstand a crash and thus be held responsible for ensuring a very important public outcome: prevention of horrific injuries and deaths due to underride crashes.

This is in sharp contrast to the current situation where no penalty is normally paid for a failed underride guard–except by the victims and their loved ones.” Comment from Marianne Karth The is a Comment on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Proposed Rule: Rear Impact Guards, Rear Impact Protection,

 Truck Underride A Practical Application of a Vision Zero Goal Marianne Karth Public Comment

Taken from: Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition

Equal Justice For All, Legal Reader, artist Neal Angeles