Upcoming Underride Advisory Committee Meeting Schedule

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced the next four meetings of the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP):

  • February 8, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Rear Underride
  • March 13, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Side Underride
  • April 24, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Front Override
  • May 22, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Underride Data

Register here to observe via Zoom.

February 8 will be the third public meeting of the committee, which was established to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on safety regulations to reduce underride crashes and fatalities relating to underride crashes.

Lateral Protection Device+ Performance Standard = Prevention of Side Underride Tragedies

On January 18, 2024, engineers and underride experts gathered via Zoom to expand the Consensus Side Guard Standard, developed by TEAM Underride in 2020, to specifically address the protection of All Road Users — that is, not only the occupants of passenger vehicles but, also, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and other Vulnerable Road Users. In 2022, the term, Lateral Protection Device PLUS or LPD+, was coined*, and now the goal was to create language for a performance standard which such a device should meet.

We had gotten a good start on this process in December 2023. We continued that invigorating discussion and wordsmithing, and this is what we came up with to define the requirements for a Lateral Protection Device PLUS, or side impact guard, on a Commercial Motor Vehicle:

A side impact guard shall be considered to meet the performance standard if it is able to:

  1. prevent intrusion into the occupant survival space of a mid-size vehicle when the Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) is struck at any location along its side, at any angle, and at any closing speed up to and including 40 mph, and
  2. prevent a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) from passing underneath the CMV in an interaction along its side.

It is our hope that this process will ultimately result in collaborative action among diverse stakeholders, including government and industry, to develop a voluntary consensus standard which can guide rulemaking and catalyze timely, widespread adoption of underride protection on the sides of large vehicles as envisioned by the Department of Transportation in 1969. For the saving of many lives.

* The term LPD+ was suggested by Garrett Mattos on December 2, 2022, during a Zoom discussion among underride experts and advocates collaborating together as TEAM Underride to advance the implementation of engineering devices to prevent Death By Underride for All Road Users.

Underride Made #1 on ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023

Deadly truck underride was at the top of the list for most listened to Frontline podcasts in 2023:

From the use of spyware on human rights activists and journalists to a surge in deadly crashes involving large trucks, The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast shone a spotlight on some of 2023’s most compelling investigative reporting through in-depth, thought-provoking conversations with leading journalists and documentary filmmakers.

As the year draws to a close, we’ve collected the five most-downloaded new episodes released on The FRONTLINE Dispatch feed in 2023, based on total downloads across all podcast players as of press time. Listen to the Top 5 ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023

#1- ‘Dangerous Trucks’ on America’s Roads

Additionally, the PBS/Frontline underride documentary, America’s Dangerous Trucks, was #8 in their most-streamed documentaries for 2023 (YouTube video has had 1,103,839 views since June 13): Watch 2023’s 10 Most-Streamed New FRONTLINE Documentaries. . .

Here are more links for extensive PBS & Frontline coverage of this issue, along with ProPublica:

So, what did you think of the PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary?

WATCH THE TRAILER

We’re very grateful for this enlightening investigative work and hope that it will help to hasten an end to preventable Death By Underride.

Basic Underride Information

This post provides basic underride information, as well as a running list of recent relevant posts.

  1. Petition: STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
  2. Petition: Secretary Pete, It’s Past Time To End Death By Underride!
  3. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.
  4. Important Videos: Basics of UnderrideFront Underride Protection crash testSide Guard crash testRear Guard crash testRear Retrofit crash test; Safetyskirt SIG.R Crash Test 2023, 35 mph T-Bone Behind Axles; SafetySkirt Crash Testing Videos; Unguarded Crash Test 2023, 37.5 mph, 45 Degree Angle Crash
  5. STOP Underrides! YouTube Channel Truck Underride Video Playlist
  6. Underride Made #1 on ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023
  7. Unsung Underride Prevention Heroes
  8. My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report
  9. Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People
  10. Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil
  11. A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil
  12. Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference
  13. A day in the life of an underride crash test crew; A Photographer’s Perspective
  14. Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference on DOT Steps in DC
  15. Simply Mary. . . August 6, 1999 – May 8, 2013
  16. Video from STOP Underrides Crash Test Event
  17. Public Comments on the Side Guard ANPRM (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
  18. Still Time to Submit a Public Comment on Side Guard Rule (July 20)
  19. STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
  20. So, what did you think of the PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary?
  21. PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary & Petition to Secretary Pete
  22. Commemorative Bell for Roadway Safety Victims
  23. Taking On a Safety Issue: Hazardous Railroad Crossings
  24. Upcoming PBS/Frontline Documentary: “America’s Dangerous Trucks”
  25. Global Underride Discussion
  26. 10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change
  27. May 4, 2013 seems like just yesterday; has anything changed?
  28. What Do Baseball & Truck Underride Have In Common?
  29. FARS Coding of a Sample of Rear Underride Crashes
  30. LPD+ Saves Lives; But what’s an LPD+?
  31. STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour
  32. “Economism Is Out Of Control” In Life & Death Regulatory Analysis
  33. Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary
  34. Someday, Seeing Side Guards & Strong Rear Underride Guards Will No Longer Surprise Me
  35. Successful Side Guard Crash Test in Raleigh
  36. NHTSA Failing To Educate Stakeholders On Underride
  37. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis Presentation to TEAM Underride
  38. Update on Underride Protection Progress
  39. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis
  40. Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports
  41. “A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw”; Industry Discussed Underride Rules in 2000
  42. Another Side Guard On The Road
  43. Too Many Lives Forever Changed
  44. Cohen, Gillibrand Call on DOT to Act Expeditiously & Implement Provisions from Their Stop Underrides Act Included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
  45. Five Years Have Passed Since the Historic IIHS Side Guard Crash Test
  46. Back of the Envelope Math: How many side underride deaths since March 19, 1969?
  47. 53 Years or 19,358 days
  48. When it comes to underride, where do you stand?
  49. DOT Announced A National Roadway Safety Strategy; Now It’s Time To Talk About What That Means
  50. Timeline Of Research & Collaborative Efforts To Create A Consensus Side Guard Standard
  51. Can the Insurance Industry Help End the Unfair Fight of Truck Underride Tragedies?
  52. Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?
  53. @SecretaryPete, Will you fix flawed underride analysis or let deaths continue?
  54. Families glad new infrastructure law will address underride crashes, WRTV, November 18, 2021
  55. First responders train to save lives during underride crashes, WRTV, November 23, 2021
  56. Raleigh Mom: Infrastructure Bill Will Prevent Crashes Like the One That Killed My Girls , Raleigh News&Observer, November 18, 2021
  57. Rear impact guard now part of annual truck inspection, CCJ, November 15, 2021
  58. FMCSA Issues Final Rule: Rear Underride Guards To Be Part Of Annual Inspections, November 20, 2021
  59. Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation
  60. AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”
  61. Unguarded & Unsafe: Death By Underride by Eric Hein, July 15, 2021
  62. STOP Underrides Petition can be found here.
  63. A Timeline of Underride Safety
  64. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
  65. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
  66. Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards
  67. Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?
  68. Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes
  69. Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks More research on side underride has just been published by SAE International following a presentation by Garrett Mattos of the Friedman Research Center at a SAE Conference. Hopefully, the Department of Transportation now has enough research to make good on their March 19, 1969 intention to add underride protection to the sides of large vehicles.
  70. IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride
  71. What will it take to get UNDERRIDE on DOT Regulatory Agenda? We’ve been waiting 52+ years for DOT to move forward with side guards on large trucks — not to mention improving rear guard regulations and adding front underride protection. After numerous petitions, comprehensive underride rulemaking still has not made it the onto the DOT Unified Regulatory Agenda.
  72. Collaborative Discussion of Side Guard Challenges on Specialty Trucks I was very pleased with the collaborative discussion which took place via Zoom on Monday, March 29, 2021, regarding the challenges of adding side guard safety technology to specialty trucks. Participants included primarily engineers and small companies who have been working on researching, designing, and/or marketing solutions to the underride problem. The meeting was also quietly observed by families of underride victims and administrative officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
  73. The March Madness of Competing Traffic Safety Interests What is it like to compete for the attention of government leaders in order to get traction on the traffic safety problem which took your loved one’s life? Envision a press conference on a hot topic where a cacophony of reporters can be heard shouting out — vying for the opportunity to have their question be the one that gets answered.
  74. Time for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman Almost five years ago, after delivering a Vision Zero Petition to leaders in Washington, D.C., I realized that we need something more than a White House Vision Zero Task Force and a National Vision Zero Goal. We need a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to be at the helm of a nationwide network of community traffic safety advocates. Someone who will have a place at the federal table — with the authority to take ongoing action on behalf of vulnerable victims of vehicle violence.
  75. Will NHTSA & NTSB Address Side Underride Factor In Latest Tesla Crash Investigation? I have again requested that NHTSA and NTSB address the side underride factor in their investigation of yet another Tesla side underride crash.
  76. Truck Underride Victims & Families Host News Conference for STOP Underrides Act Introduction On Monday, March 8, 2021, truck crash victims’ families hosted a news conference to discuss their stories and the recent introduction of the STOP Underrides Act of 2021 — on March 4, 2021 in the Senate and March 8 in the House.
  77. Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force On a Friday afternoon — February 26, 2021 — over 50 people met via Zoom to discuss comprehensive underride protection. The purpose of the meeting was to report on progress which has been made by several subcommittees since an earlier meeting in 2020 — including Industry Engagement, Research, and Engineering Subcommittees.
  78. Should we be concerned about side guards getting hung up on railroad tracks? I keep hearing members of the trucking industry bring up the possibility of side guards on trailers getting hung-up on railroad tracks. They point to it as a reason to not require side guards on all new trucks. Is that a valid concern? And where is their documentation?
  79. Transport Companies Provide Feedback on Side Guard Operational Issues We know that the trucking industry has expressed concern about potential operational issues which could occur when side guards are installed on large trucks. In order to address those concerns, we asked several trucking companies to give us feedback about their experience after installing side guards on their tractor-trailers.
  80. Consensus Side Guard Standard On April 17, 2020, over 40 people participated in a virtual meeting of a volunteer Underride Protection Committee’s “Side Guard Task Force.” This included two engineers from trailer manufacturers. As a follow-up, several subcommittees began to hold virtual meetings, including an Underride Engineering Subcommittee.
  81. Utility Trailers Encourages Retrofit of Rear Impact Guards To Prevent Underride Last evening, I received some amazing news! Utility Trailer Manufacturing has announced that their improved Rear Impact Guard (RIG) will be offered at a discount.
  82. FMCSA Proposed Rule For Inspection of Rear Underride Guards A red letter day: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at long last has proposed a rule to add rear underride guards to Appendix G. What does that mean? It means that rear underride guards will be required to be in good condition in order to pass an annual vehicle inspection. Once the rule is actually issued.
  83. “Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
  84. Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride It is to their credit that nine U.S. trailer manufacturers have improved their rear underride guard design to meet the IIHS TOUGHGuard standard and seven of them are putting it on all new trailers as Standard. What that means is that they have surpassed the current federal standard and have been crash tested to show that they are more likely to prevent underride and catastrophic Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) — thereby more likely to save lives when passenger vehicles rear end tractor-trailers.
  85. Save Lives by Lighting up Tractor-Trailers & Tanker Trucks Truck drivers can play an important role in making sure that the trailers which they haul are as visible as possible to other drivers on the road — especially at nighttime. On October 15, 2018, Leslie and Sophie Rosenberg lost their lives when they collided with the side of a tanker late at night.
  86. Truck Driver Mistakes Don’t Excuse Industry & Government Negligence To Solve Underride Problem Thanksgiving Eve, another apparent underride victim lost her life: Though the truck driver may have made a mistake, not all the blame rests with him for a crash which might have had a different outcome with effective underride protection. Carriers, trailer manufacturers, DOT, & Congress can make these kinds of truck crashes more survivable.
  87. A fully-guarded trailer hits the road – ready to STOP underride! Engineering ingenuity and a lot of hard work went into the research, development, and installation of this fully-guarded trailer system. This week, a small carrier in North Carolina became part of our pilot program. We are thankful that they have agreed to provide us feedback on this #SaferTruck as they drive it on the road to carry out their transport business.
  88. On August 19, we hosted another Underride Staff Briefing — this time via Zoom. We are providing Congressional Offices with the PowerPoint pdf from that presentation, including comments from engineers with expertise in underride as well as underride families: Underride Briefing PowerPoint pdf (inc. links to resources & video)
  89. Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020
  90. Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event Read more here.
  91. Comparison Chart of Underride Provisions in Various Bills
  92. A quick look at some of the more recent efforts to STOP underride tragedies: Update on Underride News
  93. SOCIAL MEDIA: #STOPunderrides Tweets & Facebook Pages: STOP Underrides Act of 2019 and Save Lives/Stop Underrides., AnnaLeah&MaryforTruckSafety , stopunderrides.org
  94. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.

RAMCUP. Roya, AnnaLeah & Mary Comprehensive Underride Protection. They paid the price:

Underride Crash Memorials

Because the bottom of a truck is higher than the bumper of passenger vehicles, when there is a collision the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck and the first point of impact is the windshield — resulting in underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI). Seatbelts, airbags, and car crumple zones do not function as intended in underride crashes — front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

This geometric mismatch has been misunderstood for decades. Reports on truck crashes generally focus on the cause of the crash and not what caused the deaths. So underride is undercounted. I know this from firsthand experience having been in a truck crash (but not in the part of the car which went under the truck) and lost two daughters because of underride (one of whom was not reported as such in DOT data).

In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.

This is not an exhaustive list — merely the tip of the iceberg. But I hope that it serves to demonstrate the ongoing nature of a preventable public safety problem.

You can find these Underride Crash Memorial posts here.

Basic Underride Information

Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions

Unsung Underride Prevention Heroes

Yesterday, Jerry and I received a phone call from Aaron Kiefer, who shared with us the tragic news of the unexpected death that morning of Paul Hutson. Paul, after learning about the underride hazard, devoted many hours of his life to bringing about engineering solutions. First as an engineering student intern in 2015, and later as a volunteer after hours while working as a full-time engineer, Paul was an invaluable resource to Aaron Kiefer in his development work on prototypes for the RIG Retrofit (crash test seen below) and SafetySkirt.

Paul selflessly offered his engineering talent and skills to the mission of AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety and TEAM Underride. He helped behind the scenes and on numerous crash test sites, including the Underride Crash Test Event in D.C. in 2019. He came to an Underride Roundtable, and he participated as an expert at one of our Underride Briefings for legislative staff on The Hill.

Why did Paul do this? We can no longer ask him this question, but I can only imagine that — like so many others — he understood the violence and severity of the underride problem and he loved to solve problems. This is how he described himself on LinkedIn:

  • Principal Engineer – Structural Analysis, Northrop Grumman · Full-time Working as a structural analysis engineer on Northrop Grumman’s Propulsion Systems team. My work focuses on the five-segment rocket boosters used on NASA’s Artemis, and the ground based strategic deterrent Sentinel.
  • Mechanical Engineer, Collision Safety Consulting, PLLC · Part-time Designed and analyzed a semi-trailer safety device that protects passenger vehicles during collision with a semi-trailer, preventing both side and rear underrides from occurring. My work included product design, drafting, analysis (FEA), and full-scale crash testing the system.

Just last week, an Australian engineer died. George Rechnitzer, whom Jerry and I had met early on in our mission to make truck crashes more survivable, contributed greatly to understanding and solving the underride problem. Of course, numerous other engineers have likewise passed away before seeing their contributions to underride research fully implemented to benefit road users. That includes Mark Roush from Vanguard Trailers, who held a side underride guard patent and who worked on Vanguard’s TOUGHGuard design. It also includes Rod Ehrlich, who among other accomplishments worked on a side underride guard design while an engineer at Wabash Trailers.

My Underride Hero Hall of Fame is full of well-known as well as unsung heroes, who have made important contributions to solving the underride problem:

Imagine what we could accomplish if the hard work of these engineers, who are no longer with us, were to be acknowledged and embraced by key members of the trucking industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection. Together, how many lives could we save? Let’s take the baton and finish the race.

My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report

Inside Edition aired an underride investigative report on October 11, after having filmed underride crash testing at the North Carolina State Highway Patrol training facility on August 3, 2023. I think that they did a great job of bringing attention to this preventable problem. Watch it yourself: How AngelWing Side Guards May Prevent Underride Crashes & read it here: A Mother’s Mission to Save Lives and Prevent Underride Crashes

However, after reading the many and varied comments on the YouTube video of the broadcast, I decided to respond in detail by posting my thoughts here. I hope that, no matter how much you know about underride, you’ll take some time to hear what I have to say:

My Reaction to Comments on the Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report

Thanks for listening. I hope that you’ll do whatever you can to help me bring an end to preventable underride tragedies.

Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People

Progress has been made in reducing underride deaths. But we’re not done yet; we’ve got a lot more work to do.

For example, seven trailer manufacturers are installing stronger rear underride guards as Standard on all new trailers. However, two trailer manufacturers, who have also designed a stronger rear underride guard, are merely offering it as an Option and are, in fact, still selling tens of thousands of new trailers every year with a too-weak rear underride guard — putting road users at risk of Death By Underride.

Not only that, despite the availability of Rear Impact Guard (RIG) retrofit solutions, millions of trailers on the road still pose a known unreasonable risk. It certainly doesn’t help that NHTSA recently issued a new RIG Rule but failed to require that these safety devices meet a technically feasible level of strength proven possible by nine manufacturers.

Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride

RIG Retrofit


RIG Retrofit Crash Test
In January 2020, Aaron Kiefer crash tested a reinforced trailer with a 2012 Chevy Impala at 38 mph. This test illustrated that bolt on reinforcements can prevent deadly underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI)

Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?

What’s wrong with this picture?

10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change, May 5, 2023, Trucking Dive, by David Taube

Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil

Families of underride victims gathered on September 14, 2023, in front of the U.S. Department of Transportation at 1200 New Jersey Ave SE in Washington, DC — with crash test cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2017 side underride research in the background — to remember loved ones, who lost their lives due to truck underride.

The families rang a commemorative bell for over 750 victims, primarily from the last few years, and called upon the Department to re-evaluate publicly available data, end their decades of inaction, and issue strong underride regulations. Their message was this: Delay = Death.

Thanks to Sarah Haedrich, Vision Zero Coalition Coordinator for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), we have video footage of some of the speakers at this event:

We are thankful for all who spoke at the Underride Victim Vigil, including:

  • Dr. Elisa Braver, epidemiologist and safety researcher
  • Andy Young, The Law Firm for Truck Safety
  • Barry Davis, father of underride victim Ally Davis
  • Lois Durso, mother of underride victim Roya Sadigh
  • Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
  • Sean O’Malley, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
  • Abbie Bingham Endicott, cousin of underride victim Sylvia Bingham
  • Daniel Langenkamp (husband of underride victim Sarah Langenkamp) read a statement from Stephen Bingham, father of underride victim Sylvia Bingham
  • Nancy Avis, cousin of underride victim Carling Mott
  • Harry Adler, Institute for Safer Trucking
  • Jerry and Marianne Karth, parents of underride victims AnnaLeah & Mary Karth

A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil

Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference

A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil

Families of underride victims gathered on September 14, 2023, in front of the U.S. Department of Transportation at 1200 New Jersey Ave SE in Washington, DC — with crash test cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2017 side underride research in the background — to remember loved ones, who lost their lives due to truck underride. The families rang a commemorative bell for over 750 victims, primarily from the last few years, and called upon the Department to re-evaluate publicly available data, end their decades of inaction, and issue strong underride regulations.

Their message was this: Delay = Death.

The names, included in this solemn event, were taken from a combination of sources, including victims from families known to me and memorial posts on this website. In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes, from daily Google Alerts which I receive on truck crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.

This is not an exhaustive list — merely the tip of the iceberg. But I hope that it serves to demonstrate the ongoing nature of a preventable public safety problem. You can find these Underride Crash Memorial posts here. The 750+ victims of preventable truck underride (front, side, and rear, involving tractor-trailers and Single Unit Trucks, as well as pedestrians and cyclists), whom we specifically remembered on September 14, can be found here:

Names & Photos of Underride Victims Part 1 – The Tip of the Iceberg

Names & Photos of Underride Victims PART 2 – The Tip of the Iceberg

Names & Photos of Underride Victims PART 3 – The Tip of the Iceberg

Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference

Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil

Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference

Families of underride victims gathered on September 14, 2023, in front of the U.S. Department of Transportation at 1200 New Jersey Ave SE in Washington, DC — with crash test cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2017 side underride research in the background — to remember loved ones, who lost their lives due to truck underride. The families rang a commemorative bell for over 750 victims, primarily from the last few years, and called upon the Department to re-evaluate publicly available data, end their decades of inaction, and issue strong underride regulations.

Their message was this: Delay = Death.

A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil

Media coverage included:

Grieving families say US Department of Transportation failed victims of tractor-trailer underride crashes

Speakers at the press conference included:

  • Dr. Elisa Braver, epidemiologist and safety researcher
  • Andy Young, The Law Firm for Truck Safety
  • Barry Davis, father of underride victim Ally Davis
  • Lois Durso, mother of underride victim Roya Sadigh
  • Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
  • Sean O’Malley, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
  • Abbie Bingham Endicott, cousin of underride victim Sylvia Bingham
  • Daniel Langenkamp (husband of underride victim Sarah Langenkamp) read a statement from Stephen Bingham, father of underride victim Sylvia Bingham
  • Nancy Avis, cousin of underride victim Carling Mott
  • Harry Adler, Institute for Safer Trucking
  • Jerry and Marianne Karth, parents of underride victims AnnaLeah & Mary Karth

“Underride crashes, which occur when a car slides underneath the body of a truck, have tragically become all too common on our highways. These crashes are preventable. Underride guards on large trucks save lives. I urge @NHTSAgov to implement stronger protections without delay,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “I would be remiss if I did not mention all the survivors and family members who are turning their personal tragedy into advocacy. We could not do this without you.”

Underride Victim Families Appeal to Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Letter to DOT Office of Inspector General, September 14, 2023

We pray for Secretary Buttigieg

Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil

A day in the life of an underride crash test crew; A Photographer’s Perspective

A local photographer became part of the all-volunteer TEAM Underride — offering his skills to capture a day in the life of an underride crash test crew at the Raleigh Underride Crash Test Event on August 3 at the North Carolina State Highway Patrol training facility. Here’s a glimpse of that day from a photographer’s perspective: Team Underride Crash Test Event.

Note: Adam Trevillian provided these photos for TEAM Underride to use. If outside sources would like to use these photos (for publications, etc.), please contact Adam so that he can handle those requests: adam@adamtrevillian.com.