This post provides basic underride information, as well as a running list of recent relevant posts.
- Petition: STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
- Petition: Secretary Pete, It’s Past Time To End Death By Underride!
- 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.
- Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test; Rear 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
- STOP Underrides! YouTube Channel Truck Underride Video Playlist
- $462M Jury Verdict Over Rear Impact Guard Design
- What Don’t They Want to See? DOT Declines to Send Observer to Underride Crash Test… AGAIN!
- Industry Response to ACUP Report; Enough of the Bellyaching Already!
- NHTSA Defends Itself to Congress – Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
- Advisory Committee on Underride Protection Reports to Congress & DOT Secretary
- DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act Introduced To Give Victims A Voice
- Senior Agency Officials Suppressed Side Guard Research — Impacting Regulatory Analysis
- Underride Crash Memorials
- Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24, 2024 Meeting Record
- Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24 Meeting Video Playlist
- How To Make Crashes With The Front Of A Truck More Survivable
- Register for April 24 Meeting of Advisory Committee on Underride Protection
- Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, February 8, 2024 Meeting Record
- Front Impact Guard Webinar – April 17
- Truck Impact Guards = Underride Protection
- Upcoming Underride Advisory Committee Meeting Schedule
- Underride Made #1 on ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023
- Unsung Underride Prevention Heroes
- My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report
- Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People
- Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil
- A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil
- Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference
- A day in the life of an underride crash test crew; A Photographer’s Perspective
- Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference on DOT Steps in DC
- Simply Mary. . . August 6, 1999 – May 8, 2013
- Video from STOP Underrides Crash Test Event
- Public Comments on the Side Guard ANPRM (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
- Still Time to Submit a Public Comment on Side Guard Rule (July 20)
- STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
- So, what did you think of the PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary?
- PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary & Petition to Secretary Pete
- Commemorative Bell for Roadway Safety Victims
- Taking On a Safety Issue: Hazardous Railroad Crossings
- Upcoming PBS/Frontline Documentary: “America’s Dangerous Trucks”
- Global Underride Discussion
- 10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change
- May 4, 2013 seems like just yesterday; has anything changed?
- What Do Baseball & Truck Underride Have In Common?
- FARS Coding of a Sample of Rear Underride Crashes
- LPD+ Saves Lives; But what’s an LPD+?
- STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour
- “Economism Is Out Of Control” In Life & Death Regulatory Analysis
- Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary
- Someday, Seeing Side Guards & Strong Rear Underride Guards Will No Longer Surprise Me
- Successful Side Guard Crash Test in Raleigh
- NHTSA Failing To Educate Stakeholders On Underride
- Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis Presentation to TEAM Underride
- Update on Underride Protection Progress
- Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis
- Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports
- “A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw”; Industry Discussed Underride Rules in 2000
- Another Side Guard On The Road
- Too Many Lives Forever Changed
- Cohen, Gillibrand Call on DOT to Act Expeditiously & Implement Provisions from Their Stop Underrides Act Included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
- Five Years Have Passed Since the Historic IIHS Side Guard Crash Test
- Back of the Envelope Math: How many side underride deaths since March 19, 1969?
- 53 Years or 19,358 days
- When it comes to underride, where do you stand?
- DOT Announced A National Roadway Safety Strategy; Now It’s Time To Talk About What That Means
- Timeline Of Research & Collaborative Efforts To Create A Consensus Side Guard Standard
- Can the Insurance Industry Help End the Unfair Fight of Truck Underride Tragedies?
- Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?
- @SecretaryPete, Will you fix flawed underride analysis or let deaths continue?
- Families glad new infrastructure law will address underride crashes, WRTV, November 18, 2021
- First responders train to save lives during underride crashes, WRTV, November 23, 2021
- Raleigh Mom: Infrastructure Bill Will Prevent Crashes Like the One That Killed My Girls , Raleigh News&Observer, November 18, 2021
- Rear impact guard now part of annual truck inspection, CCJ, November 15, 2021
- FMCSA Issues Final Rule: Rear Underride Guards To Be Part Of Annual Inspections, November 20, 2021
- Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation
- AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”
- Unguarded & Unsafe: Death By Underride by Eric Hein, July 15, 2021
- STOP Underrides Petition can be found here.
- A Timeline of Underride Safety
- Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
- History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
- Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards
- Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?
- Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes
- 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.
- IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- “Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020
- Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event Read more here.
- Comparison Chart of Underride Provisions in Various Bills
- A quick look at some of the more recent efforts to STOP underride tragedies: Update on Underride News
- SOCIAL MEDIA: #STOPunderrides Tweets & Facebook Pages: STOP Underrides Act of 2019 and Save Lives/Stop Underrides., AnnaLeah&MaryforTruckSafety , stopunderrides.org
- 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:
