Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: scary things


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We need your help NOW. Please. For safety.

For those of you wanting to help make our highways safer, the time is now! 

We have learned that the THUD bill in the Senate (THUD stands for Transportation Housing Urban Development) will go to the floor for a vote Tuesday.  Between now and Tuesday we need to make a lot of noise.  We need to get their attention.  We need you to contact your two Senators, (you can find the names and contact information for them here) at their Washington office.  There are two amendments that we need to push back for safety’s sake.

The first is the Collins amendment that would roll back the required restart rest periods for drivers.   I talked about this in a previous post.  This restart rest period happens when a driver gets to 70 hours in 8 days or 60 hours in 7 days.  The rest period mandates 34 hours off and  has to include two consecutive early morning periods between 1 and 5 a.m.  That’s the part that the Collins amendment wants to withdraw and ‘study’ though there were a great number of studies done before the rule was instituted last summer.

Tell your Senator’s office that  you don’t want tired truckers on the roads you share.  Tell them 4000 people die and 100,000 are injured every year in crashes with commercial trucks.  Tell them you’ve heard and seen too many stories about people stopped in traffic who were run over because the truck drivers were too tired to notice what was in front of them.  Tell them you have a friend whose father was killed in just that way.  Tell them they should leave the rule alone for the safety of all of us, including the truck drivers.  Tell them to oppose the Collins amendment.

We also know that an amendment will be introduced that is similar to the Daines amendment that narrowly passed in the House last week.  We don’t know yet who will introduce the amendment Monday but it will be trying to block any increase in the minimum insurance coverage required on truck carriers.

Remind your Senators that minimum levels of insurance for trucks is currently at $750,000 and has not been increased in over 30 years.  Remind them that families who suffer terrible losses and injuries should not have to carry the financial burden of these crashes.  Tragic crashes with multiple injuries and deaths happen every week and  the truck company’s liability insurance has to cover everyone that was injured; in multiple injury crashes all the families have to share the insurance carried.   $750,000 is not enough to cover the medical bills for even one person’s traumatic injuries.  If the truck company can not afford insurance to cover their very real risk and responsibilities, then they can not afford to be in the business.  Please ask your Senators to oppose any amendment that blocks any increase in minimum insurance requirement.

I know if you’re not actively involved in politics, and goodness knows I never was before all this, that it can be intimidating to contact a Senator’s office.  You see them on TV.  They often look imposing.  You’re not sure you understand the issue fully.  You’re afraid of being confronted.  Relax.  There are very nice people that answer the phone, and they want to hear what the people in their districts think about issues.    Ask to speak to their Transportation Expert.  You might get him or her, or you might end up in voice mail.  Either way, express your opposition to these amendments to the THUD bill.  If you have to leave that message with the initial person who answered the phone that’s OK too, that’s what they’re there for.  It’s just important that your opinion is heard.  If you are planning on writing your Senator about this issue, please do so today or early Monday so there is time for the office to gather the information.  If you’re calling, please do so Monday so that the Senator has time to receive your opinion before the vote on Tuesday.   All Senators provide phone numbers for their Washington office and their district office as well as an email contact in their webpages, and you’ll find their webpages at the link at the very beginning of this post.

I find it ironic that I’m desperately asking for help on Father’s Day, a day I’m trying to ignore.  But I remind myself that Dad would be the first in line to voice his opposition to these amendments if he could.  As would so many others taken too soon by a tired trucker.  They don’t have a voice except through us.  Every single family that has been through this wants to make a difference.  But we can’t do it alone.  We need all of you.

This is how I choose to celebrate and honor my Dad on Father’s Day.

I hope you join me.

 

Happy Father's Dad Daddy.

Happy Father’s Dad Daddy.

 


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Time to get angry

I was reading an editorial this morning before heading to work.  It was talking about fatigued truck drivers and how the Collins amendment to the Senate Appropriations bill wanted to withdraw part of the new Hours of Service Rule, and how safety groups were opposing any such measure.  There was a place for comments below the editorial, and one of those comments was from a truck driver who was upset about being regulated.  He said he was a good driver, had driven for years, never had an accident and he didn’t think he should have to follow rules, or be tested for sleep apnea, or told when or how long he could drive.    His comment was long and angry.

I thought about that comment as I  headed off to work, driving my daily 40 minute commute in rush hour, truck infused traffic.  At first I could see his point about not wanting to be told how to do his job; I don’t like it when I’m micromanaged myself.  But then I got to thinking about the bigger picture.  An industry that asks it’s drivers to work 70 or more hours in a workweek, an industry that allows it’s employees to drive up to 11 hours each day with only a 30 minute break,  an industry that pays by the mile causing drivers to want to drive further and faster to make a decent living, that’s an industry that pushes employees beyond what’s safe in order to make a bigger profit.  That’s an industry that will never self regulate and will always need rules and, yes, even micromanaging.

Four thousand people die in crashes with semi trucks each year.  Another 100,000 are injured.  There are debates about what percentage of these crashes are caused by the commercial vehicle.  I’ve heard anywhere from 7% to 18%.  Let’s say it’s only 7%.  That would mean that  about 280 people a year are killed by trucker error.  And 7,000 people are injured.  How many people are on a typical airliner?  Three hundred?  So if an airliner fell from the sky every year do you think it would be ignored?  If 7000 people were injured while flying would we say that was just the cost of doing business?  That sounds ludicrous doesn’t it.  But that’s what’s happening in the trucking industry and we ignore it until it happens to our family.

As I’m thinking about this I’m stopped in traffic on the freeway, keeping one eye on the rear view mirror, like I’m sure my Dad did when he was stopped in traffic ten years ago, and I’m getting madder and madder about the whole thing.  Our safety group has an amazing opportunity this week to gain attention for our issues, but it’s at the cost of a person’s life, people’s injuries.  We need more people to understand what is happening and to join our cause.  We need to make a bigger noise.   And here’s what I’m thinking.   You don’t have to wait until someone you love is killed or injured in a crash with a semi to join our group.  Look around your dinner table tonight.  Who there would you be willing to sacrifice in the name of commerce, the economy, trade, profits?  No one.   So don’t wait until you are forced to join the unhappy club of survivors after tragedy strikes.  How about joining the cause now?

We’ll need you soon to call your Senator and/or House Representative and voice opposition to amendments that are being attached to large bills.  The House just passed an amendment that will prohibit the DOT from raising the required minimum level of liability insurance, which stands today at $750,000, the same as when it was originally enacted decades ago.  That amendment came out of the blue and was pushed through by people influenced by the American Trucking Association which says that making truck companies carry more insurance is unfair to independent truckers.  What’s unfair is that the families of people injured in truck crashes often have to bear the brunt of the medical expenses because there’s not enough insurance to cover all the expenses.   And earlier this week a Senate subcommittee approved the Collins amendment that would withdraw part of the Hours of Service Rule that calls for specific rest periods after a driver works 70 hours.  That amendment will come up before the full Senate next week.

We need to educate our elected officials.  The ATA is already there, talking in their ears, helping with their campaign finances.  We’re just families without big budgets.  All we have are voices, yours and ours, united in protest.  We need to get angry.  And then we need to get loud.  Congress doesn’t do anything without an outpouring of public concern.  An outpouring.  So join the fight.  Let’s get angry and then lets get moving.  One person lost in a preventable crash it too much.  We’re way beyond that and it’s got to stop.

How many of you remember the story of Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss?  It took a lot of Whos in Whoville to be heard, to save their world.  It’s the same here today.  All of us together are stronger than any one of us protesting.  Check out a few editorials about the current issues, and decide for yourself.  Can you help our cause?  Because it’s not really our cause….it’s yours as well.

Some people might call me the crazy truck lady.  That’s OK – I’ve been called worse.  And you could do a lot worse than spending a little time fighting to make our roads safer.

Thanks to all of your for your support.  You are all wonderful.

Happy Fathers Day Dad.

 

 


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For AnnaLeah and Mary

Many of you know that I volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition, a nonprofit in Washington DC that works to make our roads safer by pushing for legislative and rule making changes.  We work both through our members of Congress and through the Department of Transportation and other agencies that regulate the trucking industry.  You know that I do this in memory of my Dad who was killed by a tired trucker in December of 2004.  So when you read a post dedicated to the issue of safety on our roads you run the risk of having to listen to me get on my soapbox.  I’m grateful that you humor me on this because I tend to get a bit passionate, and I know that most of you are already on my side and I’m probably preaching to the choir.  Still…

Humor me one more time and listen to the story of AnnaLeah and Mary.

Last May while my family and I were joined in Washington DC with many other families who have been touched by needless tragedy, while we were sitting in the DOT board room being told by different members of that agency why they hadn’t accomplished tasks they’ve been working on for years, while we listened to excuse after excuse why minimum insurance requirements hadn’t been raised yet, why stronger rear underride guards hadn’t been mandated, why there were no studies of side underride guards at all, why the federally legislated electronic onboard recorders weren’t already implemented ..well… while we were there listening to all these excuses AnnaLeah and Mary were dying in a horrific crash.  Two beautiful girls just gone, another family irreparably changed.

You can hear their mother tell her story here, she does a lovely job, but I understand if you don’t want to listen.  If you want to remain untouched.  If it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone.  Best not to know, right?

Well, here’s the short version:  They were driving from North Carolina, heading to Texas for the wedding of their oldest sister.  In Georgia they were hit by another vehicle and were spun under a semi.  If that truck had had underride guards perhaps the girls would not have been killed.  Did you know that every industrialized country in the world has underride guards on their semi trucks?  But not the United States.    Next time you’re driving next to a semi glance over and see where that underside of that trailer would hit you in a crash.  Even a crash that you didn’t cause.

Think about that.  It doesn’t have to be your fault and you can still die.  Family and friends can still die.  Truck companies don’t want to put protection on their vehicles to save lives of people in cars.  They don’t think it’s their responsibility.  They don’t want to incur the costs.  It’s all about profit.  But who is really paying for their profit?  You and I and our families are paying that cost.  Every single day.

OK.  I’ll get off the soapbox now.  Please, just go to this site and read a little bit.  Sign the petition that we plan to take to Secretary of Transportation Foxx in May, one year after AnnaLeah and Mary died.  We want to convince him to join us in the fight on three issues:

1.  Increase the minimum insurance truck companies have to carry to cover the damage to families involved in crashes with them.  It hasn’t been raised in 30 years.

2.  Get the electronic onboard recorders implemented to keep drivers from cheating on their logbooks and driving longer hours than allowed.

3.  Act to improve the safety of trucks by requiring better underride guards.

Even if you can’t listen to AnnaLeah and Mary’s Mom talk about her girls and the trip across country that ended not in a family wedding but in family tragedy, take a moment to read to the end to find out what else you can do to help.  And think about these two beautiful kids next time you’re on the road driving behind or beside or in front of a semi.  Think about these kids and convince yourself it’s not your problem.

I dare you.


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Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

This week’s WordPress photo challenge is “Street Life.”  I went down to Detroit this morning and parked near Greektown, hoping for something.  But the light wasn’t great in Greektown itself, so I was wandering back to my car when I saw the towers of General Motors combined with the People Mover track overhead, the red brick factories converted to shops and lofts, and the tourists walking below.

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I liked it, so I stood in the middle of the empty street and shot it.

Also on the way back to the car I saw a man, maybe Niki himself, standing outside a Greek pizza parlor…

Nikki fixed

…and unfortunately, a couple of homeless people sleeping near a grate.

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Combined, these images show a version of the streets in the city of Detroit.  There’s much more, of course, to this city – – much that is less photogenic.  I saw some of that too but was not comfortable enough to stop.  It reminded me that those of us out in the suburbs, in the country, driving our big SUVs, mowing our lawns, shopping in our trendy stores, have no idea what life is really like just a few miles down the road.

So that’s my street life submission.  You can see a few of my favorites here, here and here.  What does the street life in your part of the world look like?  I’d be interested, and there’s plenty of time.  You can post your images till next Friday at the WordPress site here.

I love how these challenges take us all over the world.

Enjoy!

 

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Weekly photo challenge: Perspective

The photo challenge this week from WordPress is to show perspective.  As usual my mind pulled me this and that way when I considered what to do with that concept.  I think I know what the photo challenge developers are getting at with the assignment.  But I think, this  week, I have to go in another direction.

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Because, you see, I’ve been thinking about truck safety stuff more lately.   My family was permanently upended in December of 2004 because of a truck, but that doesn’t mean I eat and breath trucking issues every day.  I slip into complacency just like anyone might.  But this week a letter was published in the New York Times from Joan Claybrook, who once headed NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), the Joan Claybrook who helped get seat belts mandated, the Joan Claybrook who fights the good fight for all of us on highway safety issues still today.  You can read her short letter here.  So this week my thoughts on perspective are slightly skewed toward safety and trucks.

I see some awful stupid stuff on my long commute to and from work.  In our hurry to get where we’re going some of us driving the cars are making moves that aren’t worth the risk.  Let me plead with you.  Please, never cut in front of a semi.  Never careen crazily around a slower truck.  Never shift lanes without warning to gain an extra 100 yards in stopped traffic.  Never tail gate behind that big rig.  Put down your phone.  Pay attention.  Stay away from the trucks.  Stay as far away as you can get.  Because when you look at the big picture, when you see in perspective how small you are next to them, well, it’s obvious who will be the loser in any truck/car altercation.

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No matter whose fault it is, if you tangle with a semi truck you and your family are going to lose.

The trucking industry is still lobbying hard to get bigger and heavier trucks on the roads.  The roads they share with you and me.  Despite overwhelmingly public disapproval for larger or heavier trucks, they are still trying; in just about every major bill before Congress there is an attempt to override states law size and weight limitations.

You can help by calling your Senators and Representatives and telling them you don’t want bigger or heavier trucks on the roads you and your families drive.  People are already dying.  People are already living with life long injuries.  Bigger and heavier trucks will not make the numbers of deaths (approximately 4,000 a year) or injuries (approximately 100,000 a year) go down.

Let’s keep trucks in perspective.  Let’s stop bigger trucks.  Visit the Truck Safety Coalition’s website for more information.

Please.

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Weekly photo challenge : Abandoned

This week’s WordPress photo challenge is show ‘abandoned.’  Lots of things ran though my mind immediately.  There’s an old rusted truck  out by the main road and I thought I might do that.  And I will someday.   But as I thought more about the word abandoned I began to feel the city of Detroit pulling me.   Some of you probably know the city is in bankruptcy, the biggest city in the United States to head down that road.  There’s been a lot of abandoning that has happened in the city in the past many years, but hopefully the path is becoming clearer for the emergence of a new, brighter city.

There’s one building that stands, for me, to represent the abandonment of Detroit by so many.  I’ve always wanted to go downtown and photograph it, but it’s a little daunting.  Scary too.  So I haven’t.  This weekend I decided to drive down before our weather gets worse and just see what might be possible.  Turns out there were lots of people out and about right there, going to some event down the street.  So, though I wasn’t able to get really close as they have it all fenced off I was able to get a few shots of the abandoned Detroit Train Station.

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What a magnificent building this was in its day and what a shame that it has come to this.  You can see photos of the inside here and imagine what it once was.  It’s totally gutted now.  When you’re further away from the building you can see daylight all the way through it, from one empty window through to the empty window on the other side.  This year they hung giant lit snowflakes in some of the windows.  I hear it was pretty at night.

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Then I turned around and saw an old hotel, probably the place people landed when they arrived in Detroit and first stepped off the train.  It’s been abandoned too, though not by the graffiti artists.

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And next door to the hotel was an abandoned house, you can still see the good bones of it hidden under the boarded up windows.

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Around the side of the house was this,  which epitomizes abandonment to me…the abandonment of hope.

Someone had dreams here.

Someone had dreams here.

There’s so much more abandonment in this city;  I saw it everywhere as I scurried into downtown and back out to the illusion of safety in the suburbs.  It needs a braver person than me to document the pain there, and to document the return to life of what was once a great city.  I’d love to do it, but it’s just too darn scary.

You can find more photos by creative people that represent “abandoned” to them, up at the first link at the top of the post….or here and here and here are a few of my favorites.

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Thanks

Katie here.  I told Mama that I needed to borrow her blog so that I could say thank you to all of you out there worried about me, and all of you that sent Mama messages with advice and support during the bad days.  Let me tell you this has been so stressful for me!  I suppose it’s no fun for Mama either, taking me in and outside all the time, and then carting me around looking for an answer to why I felt so terrible last Thursday night.  Most of you saw this on facebook, but this was how I was feeling Thursday night when my Mama rushed me to the emergency vet clinic.

I didn't feel good.

I didn’t feel good.

And I bet you are wondering why I got sick during the evening of a snowstorm when the roads were terrible and the wind was howling and Mama was scared to drive.  Well.  Let me tell you.  I am a princess and a princess does not care about all that when she has a tummy ache.  She just lets her minions know…well her Mama know, and off we went to get me some help!  My Mama’s good about stuff like that.  I guess I’ll keep her.

So anyway…they did all sorts of nasty stuff to me!  They took my blood!  And they poked me to get urine!  GEEZE…just ask me, I’ll pee for you, you know what I mean, but noooooo…and then, then…why it’s too horrible to even tell you!  They shaved my tummy!  Unthinkable.  I noticed my Mama wasn’t even there for that one…I had to sleep at the hospital by myself without her and then in the morning did they let me go home?  No they did not!  They shaved my tummy!!!  And then they put cold goop on it and got the rest of my furs all sticky and matted and they rubbed it around a long time.  My Mama says they told her I was very good.  I’ll let you in on a secret.  I was too terrified to move!

They took a bunch of pictures trying to figure out what was going on with me and they decided it was probably pancreatitis which upset my Mama a lot.  But I didn’t care what they called it, cause it gets me this wonderful soft dog food!  Out of a can!  I could hardly believe it when my Mama gave me some the first day home.  It was so good, and she only gave me a little cause I was just home and all, so I asked her for more.  In fact I asked her for more about every other minute all night long.  She was very appreciative of all the attention.  I’m sure.

Saturday my Mama got a call from the vet and guess what?  My score for the pancreatitis test was only 40!  That means I don’t have it…or so says my regular vet.  So I don’t need all that fancy food…but Mama says she’s going to keep feeding me the rest of it…and then she’s going to get a low fat version forever…but she says it won’t be in a can cause cans are a pain in the…well..anyway.  I’m going to keep pestering her for the canned stuff though because let me tell you that stuff is gooooood!

I figured Mama would be all happy and stuff but she seemed more worried because now she didn’t know what was up at all.  She made another appointment, this time with my own vet and you know what she did today?  She put me in the car!  Now let me tell you.  I went in the car last weekend and ended up at the kennel.  Then I came home for one stinking day and I got put in the car again and ended up at the hospital.  So I was not too happy about being in the car this morning, and I told her so.  Loudly and often.  If you shelties know what I mean, and I think you do.  We got to the vet and I was shaking so much they could hardly read the scale!  (By the way I am a svelte 20.9 pounds, just perfect I think!)  Then we went in a room to wait.  I know all about waiting for scary stuff so I insisted on sitting on my Mama.  Not beside her.  On her.  And every time she put me on the floor I asked to be picked up.  When the vet lady came in I tried to crawl into Mama’s coat.  And she was still wearing it.

My lady vet made my Mama feel a lot better.  She said not to worry about the gall bladder, there were no stones, and that sometimes dogs like me just get an irritable stomach and it likely wasn’t a mild case of pancreatitis, though it’s possible it was.  And she said it wouldn’t hurt to keep me on the low fat diet (hint hint Mama) and you know what else?  You know that stupid urinary infection I’ve had for a month?  That the emergency vet said was still there?  Well the culture came back today and there was nothing there!  So after this week Mama can stop giving me those pills.  Of course that means I have to go back to the vet to give another urine sample on Monday to make absolutely sure…and while we’re there I guess they’re going to pull more blood and check all that again.  But between you and me, I think I’m ALL BETTER!!!

I feel good.  I’m a happy camper.  Want to see me from when I was at the vet today?  Here you go!  This was after I got the good news and the lady vet left the room.  I wanted to go home!

I'm a happy girl!

I’m a happy girl!

So I think that’s the end of my adventure.  I’m really sorry all you guys were worried about me.  But it made me feel very special and loved.  Just think!  Most of us have never even met and still we care so much about each other!  I know it was all those positive thoughts and paws crossed that got us through this with the least amount of wear, if you call a pink tummy and an empty wallet lack of wear.  Mama says she’s going to work on the mats under my fur tonight.  I told her we should just rest.

I bet I win.

Love to all of you,

Katie-girl.

Love you guys!

Love you guys!


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Wide weekend spectrum

Aunt and the UM bell tower

Aunt and the UM bell tower

It’s Monday night and I’m just finding time to tell you about our weekend.  I seem to be perpetually behind.  Obviously I’m spending way too much time at work.  Yea, that’s it.

Saturday evening husband and I attended the University of Michigan’s Collage Concert.  You’re heard me talk about these concert in past years.  It’s bits and pieces of symphony, band, small groups, soloists, dancers and actors who perform one after the next, each in their own spotlight, the light bouncing from one side of the stage to the other, then focusing on the larger groups, and back to individuals.

Lots of talent

Lots of talent

Every person was playing, singing, dancing or acting their hearts out.  Each gave their art their absolute best.  The combination was fast paced, magical and eclectic.  It’s wonderful.  Where else could we hear an alto saxophone solo playing the contemporary “The Brass Violin“ by Creviston, transitioning into a chamber choir singing “Ubi caritas“ by Mealor (sung at the royal wedding in 2011).  I give you these two examples just to show you how divergent the works were that we enjoyed.

We heard bits of an oboe sole accompanied by a soundtrack of a poem complete with the sounds of birds, a jazz ensemble playing music that had us all tapping our toes and nodding our heads, followed by six men playing classical bassoon while wearing glittery jester hats, followed by 4 trombones playing a crazy contemporary piece followed by the soft tones of the chamber choir again.

Pretty details

Pretty details

It keep us engaged.  It kept us looking excitedly for the next spotlight.  Where else could we have ever hear a full symphony play a version of “Rhapsody in Blue” woven delicately with the University of Michigan fight song?  I ask you where?  Only in Ann Arbor.

It was fun.  It was crazy.  It was beautiful.  And I was more than a little sad when the symphony began the familiar strains of Ravel’s “Bolero” because I knew that was the last piece.  I’ve said it before, but it is truly amazing to witness that much talent all on one stage, all in one night.

We drove home in a lull between snowstorms happy and tired.  We fell into bed late, anticipating a slow lazy Sunday morning.  We did not factor in Katie.

Playing!

Playing!

Katie woke me up at 5 a.m.  She had to go out.  I did the usual “GO LAY DOWN!” She did not.  Though I tried again, in the end I got up and we went outside so she could pee.  Shortly after coming back inside, with me back under the warm covers she asked to go out.  Again.  I got up  and we went back out.  Again.  And again a few minutes later…and again…and again.  I went out with her 11 times in 4 hours.

Eventually even I had to realize this was not normal and I got a few samples for the vet.  We took her to the local emergency after hours vet (because why would this occur during regular vet hours?) along with her samples.

They took her in the back to weigh her and try for a more sterile sample…and then we waited.  Katie waited in her Dad’s lap where she is most comfortable when she is in a scary place.

Sleepy little sick girl

Sleepy little sick girl

She was so tired and stressed she fell asleep in his lap.  I wished I could do the same.  Shortly the results were back…she has a urinary tract infection.  We got her meds, paid the $300+ bill, and headed home.

She settled in at home as if just going to the vet made her feel better.  She got her first pill and seemed to be as good as new, though that doesn’t seem possible.  She got her second pill late Sunday night and slept through the night.  Today she seems pretty much her normal self.  So I’m happy we didn’t wait till normal office hours today since she got relief so fast.

Still…it was a crazy weekend and I woke today sorely wishing it was a 3 day weekend.  Katie says she wouldn’t have minded another day with everyone home either.  But she’ll wait till next weekend to go to the park..given it’s stinking cold here…record lows predicted for tomorrow.

I sure wish we could all stay home and be nice and warm tomorrow!

Snowy

Snowy


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Sneak attack by the trucking industry. Again.

The fight for safety on our highways never ends.  Always and forever we have to keep vigilant.  And we at the Truck Safety Coalition do that because our lives have been changed – always and forever.

Most of you know that I volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition, working with  other victims to make change in laws surrounding commercial trucks and the impact they have on all our lives.  One of the things we work on is fighting the trucking industry’s constant attempts to get bigger and heavier trucks on our roads.

Their latest attempt is an amendment that has been introduced to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, Senate Bill # 1197) which is under consideration by the Senate right now.  FedEx, UPS and others  are trying to get an extension to the current size of double-trailers which are currently 28 feet long.  The industry wants to lengthen each to 33 feet; on a double trailer that means the truck will be 10 feet longer.

What’s an additional 10 feet you say?  Well, there are several problems.  Here’s information from the Truck Safety Coalition intended to provide you reasons why longer trucks are not a good idea:

  • Truck crash deaths increased last year — AGAIN. Just released 2012 fatality figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show an increase in large truck fatalities for the third year in a row, including a 9 percent increase in deaths of large truck occupants. Last year, 3,921 people were killed on our roads in large truck crashes.
  • 98% of fatalities in two-vehicle crashes between a large truck and a passenger vehicle are the occupants of the passenger vehicle.
  • Truck crashes impose enormous economic costs on society. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the annual cost to society from crashes involving commercial motor vehicles is estimated to be over $83 billion.
  • Don’t believe it — Bigger trucks never result in fewer trucks despite industry claims. Over three decades of research and experience show that allowing bigger, heavier trucks will not result in fewer trucks. Increases in truck size and weight limits over more than 35 years have never, ever resulted in fewer large trucks on our roads.
  • Public opinion polls are clear and consistent — the public strongly opposes bigger trucks. The American public overwhelmingly opposes relentless special interest efforts to increase truck sizes. This new NHTSA data only validates the public’s fears about the dangers to motorists from oversized trucks.
  • 39 states will be forced to allow 33 foot trailers and fund expensive infrastructure improvements. Legislation permitting 33 foot trailers will preempt the existing truck length limits in 39 states. States will be forced to invest in expensive infrastructure improvements to accommodate these oversized rigs on interstates and upgrade freeway on-ramps and off-ramps.
  • Congress directed the U.S. DOT to study bigger trucks and their impacts on safety and infrastructure. MAP-21, passed with strong bi-partisan support, directed the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a comprehensive two-year truck size and weight study to provide data on crash frequency and the impact of large trucks on safety and infrastructure. No truck size increases should be considered while the Congressionally mandated study is underway.
  • Industry funded research making safety claims is neither objective nor unbiased. There have been no independent, peer-reviewed research and studies conducted on the operational and safety issues associated with the use of 33 foot trailers, only industry financed research. The motoring public should not be used as human guinea pigs to conduct this research.
  • Serious safety problems on state and local roads with longer trucks. As combination trucks grow longer and invade more lower-class roads, the danger of severe crashes rapidly increases because these roads often have narrow lanes, winding alignments, limited sight distances, and inadequate or no shoulders, and often have trees and telephone poles at the edge line.
  • Congress needs to improve truck safety rather than increase truck length. More than one in every five trucks that is inspected is placed out-of-service for vehicle deficiencies that prevent it from continuing to operate.

For More Information, contact the Truck Safety Coalition, 703-294-6404

So….we need your help again.  If you could contact your state’s Senators and give them a heads up that there is an amendment introduced in the NDAA that you oppose we’d appreciate it.  All you need to do is go to this website to find out who your senators are.  Call their office and ask to speak to the Transportation Legislative Aide or, if that person is not available, ask to speak to the Defense Legislative Aide.  Tell them you oppose the amendment that would allow longer trucks.  Pick any of the points above that you feel comfortable with.

It will take you a minute or two total.  Leave a voice mail if you have to.  Help us make a difference.  Help us maintain the current size and weights, keep larger trucks from our roads.

You never know whose life you’re saving.  But you can guarantee you’re saving someone.

Thanks.