Becoming educated about underride was not a direction I had planned on going with my life and time. But I have gained a great deal of knowledge related to the fact that AnnaLeah’s and Mary’s deaths (and Roya’s, too, along with countless other individual loved ones) might have been prevented had adequate underride protection been on the truck, into which our sturdy Crown Vic crashed — along with the fact that many more countless, unknown individuals will die unless this country takes decisive action.

This information, along with my unresolved grief due to the frustration of knowing that years have gone by without effective protection, fuels my efforts to work collaboratively to bring about widespread and significant change. It is now my aim to equip everyone with the same information — without the accompanying unwanted grief.

When you think about it, this should really be a win/win situation. Here is Truck Underride 101: Part IV Win/Win.

IV. Win/Win

1. Job Creation Quite simply put, a mandate for comprehensive underride protection (which some members of the manufacturing industry have said would take the burden off of them to persuade their customers to install these safety features) would lead to a demand for equipment which would, in effect, create new jobs.

2. Fuel Savings/Super Truck Project: 

   • DOE pours millions into SuperTruck fuel savings research projects; $0 devoted to side underride protection?

   • Perfect Opportunity to Transform SuperTruck Into An ESV To Advance Underride Protection; DOT & DOE?/

   • Side guards when installed with side skirts (designed for fuel savings and not to stop cars) can provide significant fuel savings and thus lead to a quick ROI (estimated by some to be 2 years).

3. Underride Protection: RETROFIT 

   • A Question About FMCSA Monitoring & Enforcement of Underride Guards

   • Stoughton Offers Retrofit Kit For New Rear Impact Guard

   • Stoughton improved underride guards–standard “at no cost or weight penalty.”
   • Great Dane Trailer Crash Test at IIHS; Receives Toughguard Award For Improved Rear Underride Guard
   • “Great Dane receives TOUGHGUARD award for under-ride safety guards”
   • Enforcement of Proper Underride Guard Maintenance
   • As part of crash testing a prototype side guard, I purchased a replacement part for an older, ineffective rear underride guard. It cost $125. Stoughton’s new & improved Retrofit Kit costs about $500 and it will save lives!  Unexpected adventure: mom rustles up a truck part to repair a damaged underride guard!
   • From the RAMCUP (Roya, AnnaLeah & Mary Comprehensive Underride Protection Act): TRAILER REAR UNDERRIDE GUARD REPAIR GUIDELINES SHOULD BE PROMULGATED AND ENFORCED BY FMCSA (1) FMCSR 303.86, which became effective on October 1, 1999, requires that equipment users maintain the underride guard in a close-to-like new condition. This, in part, means that it shall not deviate improperly from the dimensions given.(2) Rear impact guards shall be regularly inspected for cracked welds, cracked or fractured vertical members, cuts and tears in any member and for dimensional integrity.

     (3) Trailer manufacturers shall provide Retrofit Kits, which meet the highest standard of underride protection. These shall be installed on trucks with rear underride guards. . . The TTMA shall be encouraged to provide a Generic Retrofit Kit.

4. Second Collision: Crash Avoidance/Underride Protection: What is a “Second Collision”? Read about it here: Second Collision and Underride Protection

5. BOTH/AND and opposing arguments: This post contains numerous links dealing with the issue of crash avoidance vs underride protection: Preventing deadly crashes doesn’t require Either crash avoidance Or underride guards but Both/And.