We included a request to address front underride in our AnnaLeah and Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petition. The response was that they would issue a separate decision on it at a future time:
Grant Of Petition For Rulemaking.
SUMMARY
By initiating rulemaking to consider enhancing related safety standards, this notice grants the part of the petition for rulemaking submitted by Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (Petitioners) requesting that the agency improve the safety of rear impact (underride) guards on trailers and single unit trucks. Based on the petition, available information, and the agency’s analysis in progress, NHTSA has decided that the Petitioners’ request related to rear impact guards merits further consideration. Therefore, the agency grants the Petitioners’ request to initiate rulemaking on rear impact guards. NHTSA is planning on issuing two separate notices—an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to rear impact guards and other safety strategies for single unit trucks, and a notice of proposed rulemaking focusing on rear impact guards on trailers and semitrailers. NHTSA is still evaluating the Petitioners’ request to improve side guards and front override guards and will issue a separate decision on those aspects of the petition at a later date.
Steve Hadley, Underride Network, has posted on the front underride issue. He says that,
“Front low-speed crashes with VRU (Vulnerable Road Users) are quite survivable with proper design.”
Read more about this issue here: http://www.underridenetwork.org/why-front-underride-or-underrun-is-important/
