Category Archives: Truck Safety

Birth Pangs In Advance of Long-Awaited Rear Underride Regulations

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

As a mom of nine, I know all too well the hardships and difficulties that accompany pregnancy, labor, and birth. So I really shouldn’t be surprised that the process of bringing about change in traffic safety regulations is similarly fraught with angst. Right?

Yet, I was still taken by surprise when I discovered last week that a long-awaited infrastructure bill contained an unexpected revision of legislative language on underride provisions — after it was already passed. Here I thought that the 2021 Infrastructure Bill — even though it didn’t contain a strong mandate for side underride regulations — contained a definite mandate to meet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) TOUGHGuard level of strength for rear underride protection. Wrong.

Unbeknownst to me, the Senate had revised the House version of that underride requirement — despite the fact that IIHS had clearly shown that engineers could develop rear underride guards to prevent cars from going under the rear of trailers at the outer edges. This revision was noted by IIHS as an apparent and unfortunate rejection of proven safety technology.

  • Another longstanding IIHS-HLDI priority included in the legislation is improvements to truck underride guards. The bill calls for an updated rear underride standard that would incorporate at least two of the three requirements for the IIHS TOUGHGUARD award: Guards would have to prevent underride by a passenger vehicle traveling 35 mph when it strikes the rear of a trailer in the center or with a 50 percent overlap. It also calls for regulators to consider requiring the most challenging part of the IIHS evaluation, the 30 percent overlap crash. Years of work by IIHS-HLDI paved way for safety provisions in infrastructure bill

In other words, the bill stopped short of a clear mandate to NHTSA to write a rule which would require manufacturers to meet that third requirement. In contrast, the House version of the Infrastructure called for a regulation in which Rear Impact Guards would be required:

  • “to be equipped with rear impact guards that are designed to prevent passenger compartment intrusion from a trailer or semitrailer when a passenger vehicle traveling at 35 miles per hour makes— (i) an impact in which the passenger vehicle impacts the center of the rear of the trailer or semitrailer; (ii) an impact in which 50 percent the width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear of the trailer or semitrailer; and (iii) an impact in which 30 percent of the width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear of the trailer or semitrailer. “

Why would they water down the underride provisions so significantly — leaving it to the discretion of the Secretary (under pressure from a resistant Industry) on whether to require a proven solution? Do we want people to die?

These crash test videos show a 30% overlap with & without a TOUGHGuard rear underride guard.

Like any mother facing childbirth, after almost nine years of advocating for change in a dangerous truck design which killed my daughters, I now await the release of the Final Rule [anticipated in January 2022]. Can I expect the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to make a recommendation to the Secretary for the strongest possible level of rear underride protection? Can I trust them to take into full consideration the years of research, along with the unimaginable toll on individuals and families? Will we see a healthy, robust regulation released for rear underride protection?

Pray with me that it will be so.

Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

The video below may be meaningless to you. But the November 5 vote in the U.S. House on the Infrastructure Bill represents over 8 years of hard work and dedication. It symbolizes the answer to many prayers and petitions to bring to this nation the end of Death by Underride on the nation’s highways.

The historic inclusion of #underride provisions in this legislation is a major step forward in the long “fight” to end death by underride. We are thankful for the support and prayers which have lifted us up from far too many people to list here.  But we want you to know that we thank you all very much.

It is notably significant that part of the Infrastructure Bill that was passed on 11/5/2021, as shown above, is the part not mentioned in the news concerning safety items included in the bill.

Underride Section of the Infrastructure Bill of 2021

“(4) UNDERRIDE CRASH.—The term ‘‘underride  crash’’ means a crash in which a trailer or semitrailer intrudes into the passenger compartment  of a passenger motor vehicle.”

The bill includes the following provisions:

  • A mandate for the USDOT to upgrade the 1996 federal standard for rear underride guards so that all new trailers must “be equipped with rear impact guards that are designed to prevent passenger compartment intrusion from a trailer.” (rear crash test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VucNLZIsIU)
  • The bill also calls for: “ADDITIONAL RESEARCH.—The Secretary  shall conduct additional research on the design and development of rear impact guards that can—(A) prevent underride crashes in cases in which the passenger motor vehicle is traveling at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour; and (B) protect passengers in passenger motor vehicles against severe injury in crashes in which the passenger motor vehicle is traveling at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.”
  • The bill requires that DOT revise the regulations relating to minimum periodic inspection standards, so that underride protection is included in commercial motor vehicle annual inspections.
  • It also requires action on side underride, that is, “SIDE UNDERRIDE GUARDS.—   IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after  the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary  shall—  (A) complete additional research on side underride guards to better understand the overall effectiveness of side underride guards; . . . (D) if warranted, develop performance standards for side underride guards.” (Side guard crash test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh-_KNKeYz4)
  • “The Secretary shall establish an Advisory Committee on Underride Protection to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary on safety regulations to reduce underride crashes and fatalities relating to underride crashes.”

In addition to this historic federal underride legislation, we are awaiting a response to our September 2021 Petition for a Safety Recall of trailers without side guards. The American Association for Justice (AAJ) supports our petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall semitrailers due to lack of side underride guards. We received a letter of support from AAJ on October 25, 2021:

AAJ Letter of Support – Trailer Safety Recall Petition

Of particular significance is this statement in the AAJ letter to Secretary Buttigieg:

“Van-type and box semi trailers vehicles that do not have underride guards are defective in design, under the statutory definition of defect, because they are missing the critical safety feature of the side underride guard. NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall on this critical design defect, that clearly poses an unreasonable risk to highway safety.“

Meanwhile, we have been assured by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation that they are taking this petition into serious consideration and will shortly be posting our petition online. We expect that there will then be an opportunity for anyone to submit a Public Comment on this petition.

All of this has been possible because of your prayers and support. THANK YOU.

Regards,

Jerry Karth

Perry Ponder (AngelWing inventor) & Jerry Karth at the Second Underride Roundtable

“The victory is ours but the battle is the LORD’s.“

AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , ,

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) supports our petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall semitrailers due to lack of side underride guards. We received a letter of support from AAJ on October 25, 2021:

AAJ Letter of Support – Trailer Safety Recall Petition

Of particular significance is this statement in the AAJ letter to Secretary Buttigieg:

Van-type and box semitrailers vehicles that do not have underride guards are defective in design, under the statutory definition of defect, because they are missing the critical safety feature of the side underride guard. NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall on this critical design defect, that clearly poses an unreasonable risk to highway safety.

Meanwhile, we have been assured by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation that they are taking this petition into serious consideration. And now we wait to find out exactly what that will mean.

Here is our letter to Secretary Buttigieg on September 14, 2021, which accompanied our petition for a safety recall due to the lack of side underride guards:

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30162 and 49 C.F.R § 552.1, please find our petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to promptly initiate a safety defect investigation into van-type or box semitrailers because of a known safety hazard and defect from collisions with passenger vehicles and other vulnerable road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists) resulting in death and significant injuries due to a lack of side underride guards. This investigation will clearly demonstrate that NHTSA should issue a recall order pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 30118(b), 30119, and 30120 for all van-type and box semitrailers that lack side underride guards.  

Respectfully,

Eric Hein, Jerry and Marianne Karth, and Lois Durso

Petition: NHTSA Underride recall v2

Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes

Truck Safety, , , , , , , ,

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) issued a Confidence Report for Trailer Aerodynamic Devices in 2016. This report confirmed our talking point that when side guards are mass produced we can expect to see a decrease in manufacturing costs.

The cost of trailer side skirts have decreased substantially over the past 3-5 years. Current costs for trailer aerodynamic technologies – particularly side skirts – have decreased significantly in recent years, due to far more market entrants driving cost competition and much higher deployment volumes reducing cost per unit. From the interview responses, it is estimated that costs for side skirts have dropped roughly 70% compared to cost estimates that were compiled as part of the 2010 National Academy of Sciences study that investigated fuel efficiency technologies for commercial vehicles. CONFIDENCE REPORT: TRAILER AERODYNAMIC DEVICES

Also, see a more recent report from September 2020: NACFE updates two of its existing confidence reports

Current cost of an aftermarket side guard system, AngelWing, is approximately $2,895. If the cost were to drop 70%, that would bring the cost down to $869/side guard system.

Underride Protection Retrofit Cost_Trailer (1)

Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

On September 14, 2021, a petition was submitted to NHTSA to investigate and recall semitrailers due to the lack of side underride guards which would prevent catastrophic injuries and deaths.

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30162 and 49 C.F.R § 552.1, please find our petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to promptly initiate a safety defect investigation into van-type or box semitrailers because of a known safety hazard and defect from collisions with passenger vehicles and other vulnerable road users (pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists) resulting in death and significant injuries due to a lack of side underride guards. This investigation will clearly demonstrate that NHTSA should issue a recall order pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 30118(b), 30119, and 30120 for all van-type and box semitrailers that lack side underride guards.  

Respectfully,

Eric Hein, Jerry and Marianne Karth, and Lois Durso

We welcome letters of support to reinforce the importance of this vital recall.

Petition Letter:

NHTSA Underride recall v2

Letter of Support Received from the American Association for Justice on October 25, 2021:

AAJ Letter of Support – Trailer Safety Recall Petition

IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride

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This week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) justifiably pointed out how their amazing safety research has led to much of the bipartisan traffic safety legislation which the Senate and House recently passed — likely to see final confirmation in the coming weeks. Thankfully, this legislation includes underride provisions — for an updated rear guard standard and further research on side underride.

Years of work by IIHS-HLDI paved way for safety provisions in infrastructure bill, August 25, 2021

What the IIHS did not mention was how long it has taken for that legislation to come about — decades. Further, they didn’t stress, as strongly as I would have, how frustrating it is that the IIHS research — coupled with recommendations from the NTSB — still doesn’t seem to be enough to warrant a straight-out mandate for side guards.

On top of that, the IIHS did not mention the missing components of the underride legislation; the infrastructure bill does not include even a hint of research regarding protection of the traveling public from deadly underride under Single Unit Trucks (otherwise known as straight or box trucks) or at the front of large trucks. And we’re talking not only about passenger vehicle occupants but, also, Vulnerable Road Users — pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Yet, IIHS and FMCSA have published reports about those safety hazards:

IIHS Status Report, August 26, 1989

If NHTSA is truly data-driven, then shouldn’t the fact that 61% of the two-vehicle truck crash fatalities in 2019 occurred with first impact at the front of large trucks spur significant research into front underride protection? Shouldn’t we at least consider the potential for proven technology — already installed by major international truck manufacturers on their products in other countries — to make truck crashes more survivable?

Will we, instead, continue to ignore the preventable deaths which occur year after year? Perhaps might we, at least, engage in meaningful, collaborative conversation about potential solutions — active and passive — to end these tragedies? Other countries have done so.

Volvo Trucks Safety – FUPS crash test, published 2009
Front Underride Protection Panel
Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force February 2021
Front Underride Protection Presentation at a Congressional Staff Briefing, by Friedman Research Center

What is wrong with US? Dare I hope that we might finally come to our senses and pursue significant change?

Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?

Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks (sign here)

Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

Dear Secretary Buttigieg,

We are petitioning the U.S. Department of Transportation to take specific immediate action towards the goal of ending traffic deaths by including Single Unit Trucks (SUTS) and vulnerable road users in the scope of mandated and studied comprehensive underride protection, as called for in the STOP Underrides Bill. SUTs outnumber tractor-trailers and, in fact, comprehensive underride protection on them has already been recommended by the NTSB and the IIHS. Yet SUTs are not included in the Underride Sections of the recently passed Senate and House Infrastructure legislation.

Therefore, we are asking that you expedite work on the 2014 Karth Family petition for underride protection on Single Unit Trucks by taking the following actions:

  • Establish the Advisory Committee On Underride Protection, as called for in the STOP Underrides Bill and the Infrastructure Legislation in both the House and Senate.
  • Proceed immediately to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for comprehensive underride protection on Single Unit Trucks – front, side, and rear.
  • Add language explicitly stating that all mandated and studied comprehensive underride guards are to protect all road users, including Vulnerable Road Users (pedestrians, cyclists, & motorcyclists).

Respectfully submitted,

Marianne & Jerry Karth
AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety

Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks (sign here)

We are waiting to see: What will Congress do to end preventable truck underride?

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Will Congress finally, after 52 years, take bold, decisive legislative action to mandate strong comprehensive underride protection? Or will they leave it to DOT to determine if side underride protection is “warranted” before issuing a mandate?

How many more people — like a woman in a Greenwich crash on July 3, 2021 — will needlessly die due to a dangerous truck design for which engineers have developed solutions?

Fatal truck crash in Greenwich on July 3, 2021 (photo provided by passerby)
Could a fully-guarded trailer have changed the outcome of this crash?

Will trucks on our roads continue to be Unguarded: Death by Underride? Or will Congress boldly send the message through inclusion of strong underride provisions in the Infrastructure Bill to Fix the Problem NOW!?

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Unguarded: Death By Underride

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Looking for an explanation of the truck underride problem and solutions? Look no further. Eric Hein, the father of side underride victim Riley Hein, has put together a detailed tool for learning more about underride and what can be done about it:

Unguarded: Death By Underride

Here are a few excerpts:

People die every day from side underride crashes

An “underride” is a collision between an automobile and a truck or semitrailer, and due to the height differential between the passenger vehicle and the frame of the semitrailer, the vehicle goes partially or completely under the side of the semitrailer. During a collision (see unguarded and guarded crash test here), the passenger vehicle impacts the side of the semitrailer with parts of the vehicle not designed to absorb crash forces, namely the windshield and those areas above the hood. This type of collision causes deaths and severe injuries – death by decapitation, crushing, or explosion commonly result. These catastrophic collisions would otherwise be survivable, but side underride guards on trucks and semitrailers are lacking.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fc51adce82dd47d188794ef19b2e6d17

Sadly, the recognized hazard of side underride collisions with towed trailers can be traced back to at least 1935 when Robinson patented an invention for a peripheral guard on a hitch-mounted trailer.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fc51adce82dd47d188794ef19b2e6d17

Industry Opposition Claims Are False

The technology is feasible and available. The trucking industry has lobbied against underride guards since 1971 and continues to inaccurately claim that side underride guards are infeasible. Contrary to industry, side underride guards ARE available – they are widely used in Europe, and have been tested and installed in the USA such as the AngelWing and Fortier in Canada.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fc51adce82dd47d188794ef19b2e6d17
Riley & Eric Hein

Underride Guards Are Aerodynamic and Save Fuel Cost. Wabash engineered a combination side impact guard and skirt that passed tests for a 90-degree centerline vehicle impact at 35 miles per hour, and uses a braided cable and is 40 to 50 percent lighter than other designs. With an aerodynamic skirt installed on the underride guard, about 704 gallons ($2,153 using $3.06/gallon) of diesel fuel would be saved annually (8,448 gallons or $25,836 over the 12-year life of a semitrailer) and would completely offset the guard’s cost.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fc51adce82dd47d188794ef19b2e6d17

Underride Guards Safeguard Truck Drivers. Side guards on semitrailers change the outcome of collisions to fender benders and reduce the risk of death for people in passenger vehicles, which shield truck drivers from the prospect of jail time or losing their jobs.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fc51adce82dd47d188794ef19b2e6d17

Global Harmonization Of Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Could Be On The Horizon

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

I was so pleased to discover the Section on Global Harmonization in the Surface Transportation Investment Act introduced by the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday. I reached out to Secretary Buttigieg and let him know that we are counting on him to proactively take steps to advance traffic safety worldwide, as is clearly the intent of Congress.

SEC. 4211. GLOBAL HARMONIZATION. The Secretary shall cooperate, to the maximum extent practicable, with foreign governments, nongovernmental stakeholder groups, the motor vehicle industry, and consumer groups with respect to global harmonization of vehicle regulations as a means for improving motor vehicle safety.

Global Harmonization Commerce Bill 2021

Underride protection technology, by itself, provides a straightforward example of a practical means to pursue this kind of collaboration which can put us on a fast track to attain zero road deaths and catastrophic injuries due to preventable truck underride. Already we have brought together an international group of engineers to discuss and endorse comprehensive underride protection which could be implemented/mandated in the U.S., including:

In addition to the benefit to U.S. Road Users, the rear standard could help to strengthen standards globally, as would the side guard standard. Additionally, by following the lead in other countries, the U.S. could apply underride standards to Single Unit Trucks as well as tractor-trailers.

We are urging Secretary Buttigieg: Act now, in this one area, by establishing the Advisory Committee On Underride Protection — and include international participants. Move ahead immediately with Global Harmonization of Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Petition to Secretary Buttigieg for Underride Rulemaking

Team Underride at the D.C. Underride Crash Test Event, 3/26/19