In 2013, Marianne Karth lost two children in a crash with a tractor-trailer. Since then, she has made it her life's work to try to prevent any other family from enduring that pain.
"The grief fuels the advocacy," she told WRAL Investigates. "But also the conviction that it is possible."
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The crash that killed AnnaLeah and Mary Karth involved the Karths' vehicle going underneath a tractor-trailer, in what's known as an "underride" crash. Karth, who lives in Raleigh, has spent years advocating for stronger rear guards, and guards around the outside of big rigs, that would help prevent those types of crashes.
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Earlier this month, she had a major breakthrough. For the first time, officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) -- who have the power to mandate the guards nationwide -- came to witness tests of a guard that was created by a local engineer.
"We’re hoping that things like this will convince them to take action," Karth said.
NHTSA officials who observed the test, performed at the Highway Patrol's training facility during the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Summit, would not say whether the tests they witnessed swayed them.
"We’re glad that we were invited here to come and see this," NHTSA Deputy Administrator Lee White told WRAL Investigates. "We're here to learn more about it."
WRAL Investigates asked why NHTSA has not taken action to date to mandate underride protection.
"There is a process we go through," White said. "We will look at all of this technology that’s available."
Solution designed by an NC State grad
North Carolina State University graduate Aaron Keifer invented the "safety skirt," designed to prevent underride crashes. The device looks almost like a seatbelt that surrounds the tractor trailer, outside its wheels, to provide a barrier that would prevent a car from going underneath the trailer. Keifer describes it as a simple device that costs about $2,000.
Keifer says, since 1998, tractor-trailers have been required to have rear underride guards, which offer enhanced protection for rear underride crashes. He believes the current standards and many devices are too weak in that arena, so he has also designed what he calls a "rear guard reinforcement."
His passion for stopping underride crashes derives from his day job, which is as a consultant who analyzes crashes around the country.
Legal mandate stalled
North Carolina Congresswomen Valerie Foushee and Deborah Ross also witnessed the crash tests. Both support underride protection, with Ross even introducing a bill earlier this year that would compel NHTSA to require underride guards. The bill is stalled in committee.
"This is the least productive congress we’ve had in probably 70 years," Ross said. "It is stalled. I am going to continue to push it."
Ross's bill notes that 31,500 people have been killed in underride crashes since teh formation of the NHTSA more than 50 years ago.
"The majority is holding it up," Foushee said, adding that it is very frustrating. "We want to deliver for the American people."
Truck industry cost concerns
Critics of underride protection cite the cost as one of their concerns. The American Trucking Associations, a national trade group for the trucking industry, previously told WRAL it had concerns about cost and effectiveness, writing in part: "The federal government’s own analysis cites significant, unresolved challenges posed by side underride guards, such as railroad crossings and other infrastructure designs that could ensnare this equipment and create an even greater safety hazard ... This inordinate, unfunded mandate would kill current investments in innovative, lifesaving technologies that prevent crashes from occurring in the first place by forcing companies to divert limited resources to less-effective, costly underride equipment."
Jennifer Tierney, whose father was killed in an underride crash in Forsyth County in 1983, saw how well the guards work during the crash test. She believes mandating them is a no-brainer.
"This has been proven to work. You saw it. What are you waiting on?" she wonders. "If you knew that that was going to be your loved one, would you want to pass the bill? Would you want to pay for that? Yeah, you would."
