Truck Accident
On June 29, 1967, actress Jayne Mansfield was decapitated when her car struck the rear of a trailer truck and slid under the carriage. Two others, Ronald B. Harrison and Samuel S. Brody, were killed on impact. Her three children, Mickey, Zolton, and Marie (Mariska), were sleeping in the rear seat. They were injured but survived.
If rear guards had been on the truck, Mickey, Zolton, and Marie could have grown up with their mother. Still, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandated rear guards on all trucks. Today, those rear guards aren’t required to be inspected.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Marco Rubio have introduced a bill, the Stop Underrides Act, for the third time. Why is our nation so behind in traffic safety?
If you have lost someone you love due to a preventable trucking accident, you need a truck accident lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today. The dedicated attorneys at the Dan Doyle Law Group are here to see you receive the compensation you deserve.
Why would an industry fight against saving thousands of lives? The American Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association oppose side guard legislation. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly $54 million was contributed to federal candidates, parties, and outside groups during the 2020 election.
If you now have office due to campaign money from the Automotive Industry, and they oppose a piece of legislation, how would you vote? Do you vote to prevent hundreds of decapitations and mangled bodies by requiring simple safety features? So far, no.
The American Trucking Association has long touted that side guard rails are too expensive and impractical. Why are they working in Europe and Canada? Are their trucks magical unicorns?
Side guards have been shown to prevent 90% of injuries in underride collisions. How many lives could we save a year? How many mothers and fathers could come home? How many daughters could grow up?
Marianne Karth, who has been working with Senator Gillibrand, lost her daughters AnnaLeah and Mary to an underride carriage collision. Could AnnaLeah and Mary still be here if there were sufficient guards on the tractor-trailer?
Hundreds of lives are lost every year due to underride collisions. Jayne Mansfield lost her life with two others in 1967, yet in 2021 we still don’t have legislation. Why are we so behind?
Senators Gillibrand and Rubio are pushing hard to get our country on track with basic trucking safety. The IIHS has estimated 80% of fatalities with side, or rear impacts involve the vehicle sliding under the semi or tractor-trailer.
“This bill would finally enact critical, commonsense changes that would save lives on our roads. Requiring effective truck underride guards is one of the best and easiest solutions to prevent horrific underride accidents and protect passengers from being killed when a car collides with a tractor-trailer,” Senator Gillibrand states.
If you have lost someone you love due to a side or rear collision with a truck, you need a truck accident lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Dan Doyle Law Group has extensive experience with truck accidents and will secure the compensation you deserve. Sometimes the best way to enact change is to become too expensive to be ignored. Contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling 215-987-3730.
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