Reject liability limits for semi trucks

Forty-nine years ago, I was in a near fatal semi-truck/car accident just outside of Orange City. The semi crossed into my lane and hit my car head-on twisting my Chevy Vega under the trailer and crushing the car into my entire body. The accident is now classified as a “truck underride” accident. I, still an Iowa resident, am one of the oldest known survivors according to www.stopunderrides.org. Documentation, which has been difficult to acquire due to reporting inconsistencies, shows that thousands of people are killed that same way every year since. The statistics make no mention of the number of badly injured and mentally affected victims.

State legislators now wants to limit liability of trucking agencies to $1 million per incident. That amount is ludicrous! I have lived my life permanently handicapped and struggled to recuperate from 20 surgeries, mostly due to the accident.

I am aware that “trucks move the nation” but a partial solution does exist to the litigious situation. If the truck was fitted with approved, fortified side-guards (as is the EU mandate), the injury magnitude is greatly reduced. (Read the findings).

Iowa — make a good law by examining each accident independently. Mandate Semi-Trailer fortified side-guards to reduce the magnitude of injuries. Do not penalize your residents who innocently get their bodies smashed, mangled and forever negatively changed in a semi-truck/car accident! Be wise!

Anita Bomgars

Orange City

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