We just received good news from Gary Fenton, VP of Engineering at Stoughton Trailers, with the announcement that their newly-designed rear underride guard is now available, as of November 1, 2016, on all new trailers produced by and purchased from them. Gary’s email to me on December 12, was very encouraging:
“Please find attached a press release and ad sheets associated with the Stoughton move to standardize a new under ride structure, designed to widen the area of impact protection on the rear of Stoughton Trailers. Stoughton is now standard on this new design for all straight vans (dry and reefer). The implementation of the design as standard began on Nov. 1, 2016 (pilot run of 100 units built in August). The inclusion of this new protection feature is standard to the customer at no cost or weight penalty.”
Stoughton Rear Underride Guard Brochure August 2016 pdf
Stoughton Trailers Introduces Underride Guard Press Release June 2016
Stoughton Safety Ad for Rear Underride Guard 10/17/16
This is good in more than one way:
- First of all, it means that — here on out — all new trailers purchased from Stoughton will be safer.
- Secondly, it means that Stoughton has set a new example for the industry in offering it as standard equipment and not merely an option.
Stoughton Trailers is one of four out of the eight major trailer manufacturers, tested recently by IIHS, which have responded to our request for voluntary improvement to their underride protection. The others are Manac (which improved their guard shortly before our crash), Vanguard, and Wabash. One more manufacturer hopes to have their upgrade crash tested early next year.
Thank you, Stoughton, and Gary Fenton, for your hard work and dedication to truly making safety a priority.
A more detailed explanation of the underride dilemma is available here: Underride Guards: Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out? June 27, 2014
Media Coverage of the first Truck Underride Roundtable held at IIHS on May 5, 2016
There are a million plus truck crash victims in the U.S., most fatal crashes involve higher speeds. Protection for lower speed crashes is a falacy to placate the American public that truck underride is no longer a hazard. Only energy absorbing guards can protect car drivers in high-speed crashes which are the vast majority. These are guards that under 50 years of victim and expert pressure are designed to kill to save pennies of cost and are referred to as “Roving Guillotines”. These guards will murder victims at highway speeds, as so-called advocates proclaim their safety they will steal justice in courtrooms across America from suffering victims families. We have had energy-absorbing guards for twenty five years effective to plus 50 mph in crashes, lesser guards are nothing more than corporate murder to save pennies!