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Citizens For Roadside Safety

This site is dedicated to the memory of Judy Bird, Joan Wendling and to more than one million people killed on the U.S. highways since 1972.

The guardrail above that killed Judy Bird has been replaced after nearly 8 years.  The blunt end like the one that killed Judy is now illegal according to a Memorandum signed Dean Carlson.   Click here for memorandum.  12/19/00 There are still thousands of these illegal blunt end killer guardrails in Kansas at this time.  

7/3/01  There are still thousands of these on the NHS in Kansas.  We have heard that Dean Carlson didn't have permission to sign the memorandum but if you write us we can send a copy of a letter from the head of the FHWA at that time praising his signature.

2003 Update:  The last Governor of Kansas left thousands of Bluntend Guardrails on the NHS in Kansas when they were required to remove them by a memorandum from the Federal Highway Administration.  We hope the new Governor will replace all of theBluntend Killers. 

2/20/03:  According to AASHTO, The average U.S. crash rate remains unchanged.  One out of every 84 born today will die violently in a motor vehicle crash.  Six out of every 10 children will be injured in a highway crash over a lifetime, many of them more than once

About 42,000 people are killed and an additional three million are injured in a motor vehicle crash each year.

The NHTSA research budget gets 58 billion dollars per year while the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research gets 289 million-while motor vehicle crashes are the forth leading cause of death.  NHTSA says for each Cancer death the National Cancer Institute research expenditure was $5800  compared with NHTSA's $1400 per crash death.

 

$2500  Reward

We are offering a $2500 reward for the arrest and convicton of the person or persons responsible for the destruction of the above billboard.  It was shot full of holes and they even shot and destroyed Judy's face.  It was removed after it was destroyed.  If you have any information please contact the police or write .Galen Bird

Citizens For Roadside Safety was created as a result of the death of Judy Bird, the 20 year old daughter of Galen & Linda Bird on December 19, 1992.  The driver drove off the road and hit a blunt end guardrail.  The guardrail pierced the car, decapitating Judy.  Eighteen feet of guardrail were taken to the junk yard with the car.  This type of guardrail has been known to be deadly since the 1960's and yet there are thousands on our highways today.  The driver walked away from the scene.

The goal of this organization is to save lives and force the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the states to dedicate more time and money to highway safety.  In the past there has been an attitude that if a driver runs off the road they deserve to die.  Due to pressure from many people and organizations like ours, this attitude is gradually changing.  There are many older people working for the state DOT's that need to be replaced because they will not adjust to the new times.  In the past it was said, "give the people a smooth road," to make state DOT's look good.  The people of the U.S. now want safer highways.

After meeting with the Federal Highway Administration in May of 1994, a memorandum was written and signed by Dean Carlson on September 29, 1994 giving the states until September 29, 1996 to get the blunt end killer guardrails off the National Highway System (NHS).  The FHWA is not enforcing this memorandum.  Dean Carlson is now Secretary of Transportation for Kansas and he is not following his own memorandum. Click here for memorandum.

We have had a tremendous amount of media coverage since the founding of the organization.  We have appeared on Inside Edition, many news spots for local T.V. stations, and have had many articles published in newspapers.  As a result we get calls from all over the nation making us aware of the deplorable road conditions in other states.  We have done presentations for several of the states' House and Senate Transportation Committees, and will speak for any organization when possible.  Our efforts are starting to make a difference.  We get calls telling us we have saved a life or lives when someone has hit one of the new guardrail terminals and walked away.  Many blunt end guardrails have been replaced but they should all be gone by now!

We just got word 3/25/01 that New Zealand has adopted the new safety standards now in affect in the U.S.  NCHRP-350  We just returned from Australia and New Zealand and saw very few blunt end guardrails.  They mainly have BCT, SRT, Turndown and the new Et-2000.

Cal Trans Socked for $5.9M

Improper Rail Installation Led to Severe Injuries in Crash

Feb. 4th, 2002 Randy Stewart

From: "California Jury Verdicts Weekly" Vol. 1 Issue 5

An Alameda County jury awarded $5.9 million to a 47 year-old unemployed women whose leg was amputated after her vehicle went off the roadway and crashed into a guardrail over Castro Valley Boulevard.

Facts:  On June 26th, 1998 Sabrina Bauman was driving a Datsun 280Z on the on-ramp to Interstate 580 from Foothill Boulevard. As she was driving, a cup of hot chocolate spilled, causing her to drive off the on left side of the on-ramp.  As she tried to re enter the roadway, she was looking over her right shoulder when she struck a guardrail on the bridge that crosses over the boulevard. 

She claimed that the guardrail speared through her vehicle, smashing her left foot and cutting off her right leg.  She argued that had the guardrail been properly installed, she would have been involved only in a minor non injury collision.  The plaintiff's counsel determined that the guardrail she struck had been improperly  installed in or about 1989.  In 1980 , the Federal Government had complained to the director of the California State Department of Transportation (Cal Trans) about the same deficiencies as those in this guardrail, the plaintiff reported.  Cal Trans countered the plaintiff's claims by maintaining that the guardrail was properly installed.  It also claimed that the plaintiff would have suffered the same injuries regardless of the guardrail installation because of the way she allegedly struck the rail.

Injuries:  The plaintiff's right leg was cut off at the knee.  At the hospital, her stump was amputated at the mid-thigh due to the severe damage to the bones and muscles.

Verdict:  The jury found that Cal Trans was 100% at fault for the plaintiff's injuries.  The defendants have filed a motion for a new trial.

3/2/02 Update:  Cal Trans has lost there motion for a new trial and it appears it will be difficult for them to overcome this.

This should serve notice to all the States and to the Federal Highway Administration  that they will need to fix thousands of guardrails and other roadside hazards across the country.  Kansas still has thousands of blunt end guardrails that their own Sec. of Transportation has signed a memorandum saying they had to be replaced years ago. 

 

Crime Clock:

Murder	Every 31 Minutes
Aggravated Assault	Every 32 Seconds
1 Violent Crime	Every 20 Seconds
Property Crime	Every 3 Seconds
Crime	Every 3 Seconds

 

Crash Clock:

Highway Fatality	Every 13 Minutes
Injury	Every 16 Seconds
Property Damage	Every 7 Seconds
Crash	Every 5 Seconds

 

If anyone has proof that any information is incorrect, please send it to us and the corrections will be made as soon as possible.

Quotes:

• A person is no better than his word!
• What is important is not how long we live but what we do with the time we have!!!   
• The bitterness of poor design lasts forever after the sweetness of cheapness is gone!!!! 
• Buy them books, buy them books, buy them books and all they do is eat the covers!!!!! 

   

   

  • FHWA Memorandum September 29, 1994.  Click here to view:
    

   

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  Citizens For Roadside Safety
  3300 Robinson Pike Road
  Grandview, MO 64030
  President: Galen Bird
  guardrails@gmail.com