Let’s make truck crashes more survivable!
Related post:Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride
“Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
Category Archives: Truck Safety
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.
See the difference between a too weak and a stronger guard:
Read more here: Recognizing good rear underride protection
Unfortunately, that does not help underride victims who crash into older models with too weak rear underride guards. Until the entire fleet has this stronger protection, people will continue to die from an engineering problem that has already been solved.
Underride Crash Memorials (the tip of the iceberg)
Thankfully, there are retrofit solutions available. This is what I know:
- Great Dane Trailers has a retrofit solution.
- Stoughton Trailers has a retrofit kit.
- Utility Trailers aftermarket sells only the current production horizontal bumper as a replacement for any damaged Utility bumper.
- Vanguard Trailers and Manac Trailers have the improved guard available for sale.
- I don’t have information about retrofit options for the other trailer manufacturers.
- TrailerGuards offers a generic Rear Impact Guard (RIG) Retrofit out of aluminum which can be installed on most any model of trailer. See it crash tested here at 38 mph:
Note: When I called a local truck part company, the person with whom I talked knew nothing about improved rear guard retrofit parts. They were still selling the old model of generic horizontal bumper tubes. In other words, despite the availability of improved guards, many trucking companies are replacing damaged guards with the old model which can’t stop a car in an offset crash.
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.
Family members are appealing to the trucking industry — including truck owners and drivers — to install additional lights for improved visibility and to make sure that the required lighting and retroreflective tape are kept clean and properly maintained. It could mean the difference between life and death.
“A tanker truck pulled onto the unlit highway from a side road, crossing three lanes of traffic. My sister – driving in the rightmost lane – in a mini van plowed into the underside of the tanker … There were no skid marks. The reason for there being no skid marks is simple: my sister never saw the tanker. She never saw the tanker because it was painted dark blue and had no lights on the sides that were clean and clearly visible. . .” Forman writes.
Forman goes on to argue that if the tanker had been painted silver and had “lights illuminating the entire outline of the tanker” the crash could have been avoided. Family petitions for more lights, no ‘dark colors’ on big rigs following fatal crash
Read more about their story and petition here:
- Family petitions for more lights, no ‘dark colors’ on big rigs following fatal crash https://cdllife.com/2020/family-petitions-for-more-lights-no-dark-colors-on-big-rigs-following-fatal-crash/
- Petition asks NHTSA to require more lighting on tractor-trailers https://landline.media/petition-asks-nhtsa-to-require-more-lighting-on-tractor-trailers/
- Westlake family advocates for new truck law after fatal crash https://www.statesman.com/news/20201013/westlake-family-advocates-for-new-truck-law-after-fatal-crash
- Fellow Aggies remember Jewish ‘bright light’ killed in car crash https://jhvonline.com/fellow-aggies-remember-jewish-bright-light-killed-in-car-crash-p25139-124.htm
- Leslie Susan Rosenberg https://www.austinnaturalfunerals.com/obituaries/Leslie-Rosenberg/
The family’s petition goes into detail about why it is so important to make large trucks as visible as possible especially at nighttime:
In 2018, 96% of vehicle occupants killed in two-vehicle crashes involving a passenger vehicle and a large truck were occupants of the passenger vehicles. (IIHS, 2019) (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/
In 2018, 37% of all fatal crashes, involving large trucks occurred at night (6:00 pm to 6:00 am). (FMCSA, 2016) (Source: https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/
“The main factor related to the driver’s ability to see a crossing truck is target conspicuity, or how well an object stands out from its background. Target conspicuity relies largely on contrast characteristics such as color, movement, brightness, shape and size.
“Most commonly with trucks, the misconception is that their large size by itself makes them conspicuous. At night the size of the trailer by itself will not make it conspicuous since other contrast problems will make the trailer virtually invisible. Without any close-in lighting reflecting off the painted surface of the trailer, it will appear black against the black background. Then an approaching driver will have to rely on the side marker lights for his only cue to the presence of the trailer. However, even with the legal placement of marker lights on the sides of the trailer, approaching drivers will still often not perceive the trailer as an obstruction blocking their path.
“Marker lights are small and can be spaced as far as 26 feet apart on the side of a trailer, not providing on-coming drivers with enough information to determine that what they are looking at is a trailer. Marker lights can be misleading, and without an external light source, trailers are often not identified until the headlights of oncoming vehicles directly illuminate them. When their headlights illuminate the trailer, on-coming drivers will only be 100 to 200 feet away, and unable to stop at higher speeds.”
“Retroreflective tape is very effective in making trailers visually –stand out. However, a truck driver should never assume that the presence of this tape on a trailer will automatically guarantee that the trailer will be seen. If the tape is dirty, badly worn, or if the truck is at a steep angle to traffic, oncoming drivers may not be alerted to the presence of the trailer. The underride hazard is still present. Therefore Lights all around the sides are a much better alternative.”
An in-depth discussion of causes of underride collisions can be found at: crashforensics.com: Truck Underride Collision Analysis
NOTE: This is a very important issue. Having more warning that a collision is imminent will mean that the driver of the passenger vehicle will be more likely to brake and reduce the vehicle speed upon collision. However, this is not an either/or situation. Without adequate underride protection, even at speeds as low as 15 mph, a passenger vehicle can go under the truck — causing catastrophic underride and Passenger Compartment Intrusion injuries.
With both adequate truck conspicuity and underride protection, many lives will be saved.
Truck Driver Mistakes Don’t Excuse Industry & Government Negligence To Solve Underride Problem
Thanksgiving Eve, another apparent underride victim lost her life: A truck driver is being investigated for his role in a deadly crash Wednesday night at a rural Fresno County intersection, according to the California Highway Patrol. . . The driver of a sedan was eastbound on Lincoln when the truck driver appeared to fail to see the car approaching and entered the intersection directly in the sedan’s path, according to CHP. . . The sedan struck the left side of the big rig’s trailer and the driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene. She was identified Thursday as Lorene Negrete, 57. . .
The driver of the truck, 29-year-old Pardeep Kumar of Fremont, has cooperated with the investigation but likely will face a charge of vehicular manslaughter, according to the CHP. Update: Truck driver may face manslaughter charge in deadly Fresno County crash, CHP says
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.
What does fully-guarded mean? It means that every part of the trailer — at the rear and both sides — is covered by equipment which has been installed to prevent a car (or pedestrian, biker, or motorcyclist) from going under the trailer in the event of a collision.
This “hybrid” safety system combines devices which have been crash tested to prevent a car from riding under, including an AngelWing metal side guard installed behind the landing gear, a SafetySkirt polyester webbing where the AngelWing ends and extending over the rear axle — fastening to the Rear Impact Guard (RIG) Retrofit attachment, which reinforces and strengthens the existing rear underride guard (otherwise known as a Rear Impact Guard or RIG, ICC Bumper, or Mansfield Bar).
Oh, and did I mention that this system includes a side skirt for fuel savings?
This retrofitted trailer proudly displays the #SaferTruckAward decals:
Underride Crash Victim Memorial Posts
AngelWing side guard in action:
Memorials of Underride Crash Victims
Because the bottom of a truck is higher than the bumper of passenger vehicles, when there is a collision the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck and the first point of impact is the windshield — resulting in underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI). Seatbelts, airbags, and car crumple zones do not function as intended in underride crashes — front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.
This geometric mismatch has been misunderstood for decades. Reports on truck crashes generally focus on the cause of the crash and not what caused the deaths. So underride is undercounted. I know this from firsthand experience having been in a truck crash (but not in the part of the car which went under the truck) and lost two daughters because of underride (one of whom was not reported as such in DOT data).
In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.
This is not an exhaustive list — merely the tip of the iceberg. But I hope that it serves to demonstrate the ongoing nature of a preventable public safety problem.
You can find these Underride Crash Memorial posts here.
Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
Underride Crash Memorials
NOTE: The summer months involved a lot of traveling to help family and I was not able to continue reviewing truck crash notifications and writing underride memorial posts. As a result, you will observe an apparent cessation in these tragedies — not because they aren’t happening but only because I wasn’t monitoring and recording them. 10/1/24 mwk
Because the bottom of a truck is higher than the bumper of passenger vehicles, when there is a collision the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck and the first point of impact is the windshield — resulting in underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI). Seatbelts, airbags, and car crumple zones do not function as intended in underride crashes — front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.
This geometric mismatch has been misunderstood for decades. Reports on truck crashes generally focus on the cause of the crash and not what caused the deaths. So underride is undercounted. I know this from firsthand experience having been in a truck crash (but not in the part of the car which went under the truck) and lost two daughters because of underride (one of whom was not reported as such in DOT data).
In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.
This is not an exhaustive list — merely the tip of the iceberg. But I hope that it serves to demonstrate the ongoing nature of a preventable public safety problem.
You can find these Underride Crash Memorial posts here.
Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Existing Solutions
The fact that truck and trailer designs can potentially allow underride when there are collisions with passenger vehicles has a long history of being misunderstood. That’s why we recently sent letters to two lists of “100 top carriers” in North America via Certified Mail.
Our goal was to make sure that their Boards and CEOs received information about the availability of engineering solutions which can modify those designs in order to prevent deadly underride and passenger compartment intrusion.
Here’s our mailing list of the 200 companies:
Mailing List for 2020 Top 200 Carriers
Here’s the Carrier Letter Template:
CARRIER LETTERS Please Stop Preventable Underride Injury and Death
Note: This was not our first communication to the trucking industry. Starting in 2014, less than one year after our crash, Jerry Karth began sending letters to trailer manufacturers and trucking companies — informing them of the IIHS underride research — and asking them to voluntarily upgrade underride protection. It actually made a significant impact: A grieving dad got the attention of the trucking industry & made a difference.
Later, Great Dane announced its improved rear guard as a retrofit option. And, in 2017, Stoughton Trailers held a press conference at the ATA/TMC trucking conference in Nashville to announce their improved rear guard and asked me to speak at it. Here’s a quote from their press release:
Upon learning of Stoughton’s decision to make this improved protection available on all of their new trailers, Marianne said, “Stoughton’s cooperative efforts to improve the performance of its rear impact guard demonstrates a genuine commitment to safety. Stoughton is to be commended for taking a significant leadership role in design and safety. In my opinion, many lives will be saved as a result of Stoughton’s efforts.”
And, of course, we are grateful that nine trailer manufacturers now have improved rear guard designs available as an option or for some as Standard.
So, while we are working to make this life-saving technology mandatory, we continue to reach out to the trucking industry. Communication, cooperation, and collaboration are essential. Let’s keep at it and — together — get this job done!
Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Existing Solutions
The fact that truck and trailer designs can potentially allow underride when there are collisions with passenger vehicles has a long history of being misunderstood. With that in mind, we recently sent letters to two lists of “100 top carriers” in North America via Certified Mail.
We wanted to make sure that their Boards and CEOs received information about the availability of engineering solutions which can modify those designs in order to prevent deadly underride and passenger compartment intrusion.
Here’s our mailing list of the 200 companies:
Mailing List for 2020 Top 200 Carriers
Here’s the Carrier Letter Template:
CARRIER LETTERS Please Stop Preventable Underride Injury and Death
Basic Underride Information
This post provides basic underride information, as well as a running list of recent relevant posts.
- 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.
- 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.
- Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test; Rear Retrofit crash test
- 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.
They paid the price:
