I. When Will We Tackle Truck Underride?

It’s past time for the industry, truck and trailer manufacturers and NHTSA to get together and establish tough standards for underride guards. We need guards that will withstand the impact of a spinning Crown Victoria like mine and prevent the deadly underride that killed my daughters.

There’s precedent for collaborative action. NHTSA and 20 automakers representing virtually every light vehicle sold in America reached an agreement to make life-saving automatic emergency braking a standard feature on new cars no later than late 2022. And that involves the implementation of advanced technology across tens of millions of vehicles.

The Underride Roundtable demonstrated that communication and collaboration are possible. IIHS has shown that manufacturers can make voluntary improvement, and J.B. Hunt has proved that trailer buyers are willing to purchase safer trucks.

Plenty of engineers say that installing robust underride protection on trucks would be easy. Read our latest petition to NHTSA. Let’s stop stalling on underride protection.

 See more here: https://www.trucks.com/2016/08/10/trucks-underride-hidden-danger/

1. ToughGuard Award from IIHS for improved rear underride guards: https://www.trucks.com/2017/03/01/insurance-institute-safety-ranking-truck-trailers/

2. Here’s hoping that research will continue until we have discovered the outer limits of truck underride protection (beyond the 35 mph which the improved guards have been tested at).
3. DOT Regulatory Priorities for 2017 Despite being included on the list of long-term actions, underride protection for rear guards on trailers and underride protection on single unit trucks are not included as priorities for 2017.And, of course, there is absolutely no mention of underride protection on the sides of large trucks.Is it any wonder that we have taken upon ourselves the task of  doing something about it and  drafted comprehensive underride protection  legislation and are looking to Congress to mandate that DOT carry out effective underride protection rulemaking in a timely fashion?!

4. What will it take to convince US that side underride kills/side guards save?: https://annaleahmary.com/2016/12/what-will-it-take-to-convince-us-that-side-underride-kills-but-side-guards-save-lives/

5. If people die from riding under SUTs, why aren’t they required to have underride protection?: http://annaleahmary.com/2017/04/if-people-die-from-riding-under-single-unit-trucks-why-arent-they-required-to-have-underride-protection/ and http://annaleahmary.com/2017/02/why-put-rear-underride-protection-on-trailers-but-not-single-unit-trucks-any-underride-is-deadly/

6. Front Underride Protection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXZnHq1PUPU and https://annaleahmary.com/2016/08/front-underrun-protection-systems-fups-research-so-why-does-europe-require-this-us-does-not/

7. IIHS news release on side underride: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/iihs-tests-show-benefits-of-side-underride-guards-for-semitrailers and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrL7AUMT4To

8. Move Heaven & Earth: Now, it is understandable, amid the multitude of demands and the tyranny of the urgent, that—without a ready solution, in fact, one which would require time and money to develop—this problem has not been given much attention. But, if those who bear responsibility for making sure that this problem gets solved (one way or another) had lost two of their beloved children—or any other loved one—I can guarantee you that they would have moved heaven and earth to find a way to prevent underride.

   What makes it even more distressing is that there are many individuals and organizations, who truly seem concerned about safety, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and the trailer manufacturers. Yet, from what I can see, very little communication has taken place to move this problem forward from point A (guards that fail and result in death and/or horrific injuries) to Point B (coming up with a better design that will provide the best protection possible). . .  Is cost truly not a factor? Is safety really a priority and not a competitive matter? Is it possible to improve the communication necessary to prevent more unnecessary deaths? Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out?

   posted by Marianne Karth, June 26, 2014 https://annaleahmary.com/2014/06/underride-guards-can-we-sit-down-at-the-table-together-and-work-this-out/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY6mp3PWKTA

9. And that is why I acted, with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety & the Truck Safety Coalition, to catalyze the coming together of 100 people at the Underride Roundtable at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center on May 5, 2016, 3 years after AnnaLeah & Mary were killed in a truck underride crash and am working with others to get the Second Underride Roundtable underway on August 29, 2017 — encouraging us all to work together collaboratively to solve this tragic but preventable  public health problem.