Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks (SAE publication)

Truck Safety

At various times, members of the trucking industry have voiced doubt about the ability of side guards to function effectively in “real world” crash scenarios.

“We have yet to see evidence that side underride guards would be an effective safety countermeasure,”  American Trucking Associations   Vice President of Public Affairs and Press Secretary Sean McNally said. “Until these devices can be shown to be reliable outside the test track, we believe Congress and regulators should focus on reducing crashes by addressing aggressive and distracted driving and investing in existing, proven safety technologies, including emerging connected vehicle technology.

ATA also notes that trucking companies have opposed the legislation because it “promotes a solution that is neither data-driven nor proven to be effective in real-world highway settings,” and entails potentially “dangerous” and “unintended” consequences. Congress takes third swing at side underride bill

For this SAE research, Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks, the authors carried out computer simulation in order to assess how side guards would operate in various conditions. According to Garrett Mattos, the principal author,

  • We simulated angles (0 degrees, 30, 60, and 90 degrees). 
  • We simulated sliding (as if on ice).
  • We simulated both stationary and moving truck. Slightly worse outcomes for moving truck vs stationary truck.

Garrett Mattos presented an overview of the research paper at the Side Guard Task Force Meeting on February 26, 2021. You can see his presentation at 1:46:21 on this YouTube Video:

ABSTRACT

Impacts between passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles are uniquely severe due to the aggressivity of the heavy vehicles; a function of the difference in their geometry and mass. Side crashes with heavy vehicles are a particularly severe crash type due to the mismatch in bumper/structure height that often results in underride and extensive intrusion of the passenger compartment. Underride occurs when a portion of one vehicle, usually the smaller vehicle, moves under another, rendering many of the passenger vehicle safety systems ineffective.

Heavy vehicles in the US, including single-unit trucks, truck tractors, semi-trailers, and full trailers, are currently not required to have side underride protection devices. The NTSB, among other groups, has recommended that side underride performance standards be developed and that heavy vehicles be equipped with side underride protection systems that meet those standards.

The work presented used virtual testing to evaluate the relative performance of example side underride devices compared with a baseline. Crash test results were utilized for validation purposes. A tractor-trailer, with and without side impact underride protection, was impacted by a passenger car and SUV under a range of impact conditions. Passenger vehicle intrusion metrics were calculated to provide an indication of relative risk for each impact condition. The results can support the development of side underride protection recommended practices.

DISCUSSION

The results of the analysis indicate that available side underride guards are effective at reducing passenger compartment intrusion (PCI) substantially in what are often fatal side underride crashes. Nearly all passenger compartment intrusion above the beltline was mitigated other than in the purely lateral impact conditions. When intrusion did extend above the beltline, e.g. in the purely lateral sliding condition, the amount of PCI was similar to the intrusion generated in a 56 km/h side impact of a 5-star rated vehicle. Further, the average amount of PCI in the above tests was similar to the amount resulting from small overlap tests of the same vehicle. These results demonstrate that an underride guard can provide a sufficient reaction surface to allow for the vehicle’s passive and active safety systems to protect the occupant. The underride guard also causes the location of PCI to move from near the occupant’s head and torso to the lower extremities which reduces the likelihood of serious or fatal injury.

In general, the results suggest that impacts with a moving truck/trailer combination are more severe than when the truck is stationary. The added velocity of the truck/trailer combination results in greater intrusion of the bullet vehicle firewall as well as slightly higher peak accelerations. Impact severity was also increased when the size of the gap between the end of the underride guard and the rear tires was increased. The increased gap size allowed the bullet vehicle to interact more with the rear tires. In the impacts with a large gap the trailer tires very nearly engaged the driver side door. These results can help to define a comprehensive test plan that can be used to assess the performance of an underride guard.

The acceleration pulses for all impacts were within the range of frontal and side impact crash test pulses generated in similar tests of vehicles that exhibit 5-star safety ratings. This indicates that these impacts were all survivable. The most severe impact scenario was a 56 km/h sideways slide into the trailer with an underride guard.

As shown, there is an 80% or greater reduction in PCI for impacts with an underride guard compared to the baseline condition. Additionally, the location of PCI in the underride guard impacts was generally found to be at the outer firewall area rather than at or above the belt line as in the baseline case. Reducing the PCI and moving the location of PCI away from the occupant’s head and torso both significantly reduce the likelihood of serious injury. No adverse effects were observed as a result of the underride guard.

These results indicate that tests used to evaluate the performance of underride guards should incorporate a moving truck/trailer combination as this was found to increase the severity of the impact. Additionally, the location and size of gaps between an underride guard and the trailer tires and/or landing gear should also be considered as this was found to affect the results. The results demonstrate, along with other work in the literature, that Finite Element analysis can enhance physical tests to expand the number of impact scenarios in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner. While additional impact conditions and test cases can be analyzed, the results are expected to further demonstrate the importance of trailer side underride guards in reducing passenger compartment intrusion under these crash conditions.

Side underride guards integrated into the trailer structure may further enhance the safety benefits associated with preventing trailer underride and limit added weight. Exploration of these design alternatives should be explored in the future in conjunction with additional crash vehicles and configurations.

Partners in the STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour

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We are thankful for The Law Firm for Truck Safety, who graciously offered to match all donations up to $25,000 for the STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour. We welcome contributions of any size and wish to recognize all of our Business Partners and TEAM Underride Partners here.

Note: This is a work in progress; partners will be added as they join — although I might fall behind in getting them recorded! If you don’t see your name, or don’t receive a receipt, please let me know at marianne@annaleahmary.com.

How You Can Help TEAM Underride:

  • Contact us at marianne@annaleahmary.com, if you would like to become involved in planning and/or participating in the Tour.
  • For instructions on how you can donate to AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, contact us at: marianne@annaleahmary.com.
  • Donations can also be made on Facebook HERE.
STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour – digital flyer

Business Partners

Learn about the companies that have donated expertise, facilities, financial support,  and materials to this project for the saving of many lives.

      Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys       

 Maverick MetalWorks    AngelWingSkirts.com    TrailerGuards.com   

  Institute for Safer Trucking         StopUnderrides.org      Swenson & Shelley, PLLC

TEAM Underride Partners

Lois Durso-Hawkins and Mark Hawkins

In Loving Memory of Roya Sadigh

Aaron Kiefer

Trista Jean

Peggy Kiefer

Anthony Mastriano

Daniel Michel

Reshard Alexander

STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour

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AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety (ALMFTS) is collaborating with State Highway Patrols & safety groups to demonstrate engineering solutions at 2-day Underride Crash Test Events in at least 4 regions of the U.S.

Each Regional Event will include multiple crash tests — including one with & one without a side guard — as well as a keynote speaker & panel discussion to educate first responders, crash investigators, insurers, regulators, & the trucking industry on the deadly underride problem and solutions.

Organizers:

The STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour is a collaborative TEAM Underride effort of ALMFTS, StopUnderrides.org, TrailerGuards.com, AngelWingSkirts.com, Institute for Safer Trucking, The Law Firm for Truck Safety, and many other organizations and individuals, including families of underride victims. Go, Team, Go!

Crash Test Tour Event Sites:

As plans develop, information will be provided here on the schedule and locations where Crash Test Events will take place during 2023. Potential sites under consideration include Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Indiana, New York, and New Mexico. Subject to change.

Donors:

We are thankful for The Law Firm for Truck Safety, who graciously offered to match all donations up to $25,000. They were later joined by the Academy of Trucking Accident Attorneys (ATAA), who have added another $25,000 to our matching challenge. We welcome contributions of any size and wish to recognize all of our Business Partners and TEAM Underride Partners here.

How You Can Help TEAM Underride:

  • Contact us at marianne@annaleahmary.com, if you would like to become involved in planning and/or participating in the Tour.
  • For instructions on how you can donate to AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, contact us at: marianne@annaleahmary.com.
  • Donations can also be made on Facebook HERE.

STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour – Demonstrating Solutions:

Many Underride Stories – Tip of the Iceberg – Precious Loved Ones, Gone Too Soon:

One Underride Story:

Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary

AnnaLeah and Mary

Recently, the Institute for Safer Trucking honored the memory of AnnaLeah and Mary with a post on their website:

About AnnaLeah & Mary Karth

We’re grateful for the special words and photos preserving their memories in this way – though bittersweet, as it records two precious lives ended far too soon.

Someday, Seeing Side Guards & Strong Rear Underride Guards Will No Longer Surprise Me

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On the way home from our recent side guard crash test in Raleigh, I saw a Carolina Trucking Academy tractor-trailer turn the corner — with side guards! The ones that Jerry helped install not too long ago. Such a good feeling.

Another Side Guard On The Road

And today, on my way home from getting groceries, I saw a tractor-trailer with a rear #underride guard which met the strength of an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety TOUGHGuard Award. I knew it for sure because it had a sticker saying so — like the one we saw on our recent trip North.

I hope that, someday soon, I won’t be so surprised to see these things because they will be commonplace and known for saving lives. I might not get so excited, but I’ll still be grateful.

Successful Side Guard Crash Test in Raleigh

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

While we wait for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete their side #underride research this year, we continue to do our own research to demonstrate how deadly underride can be prevented. On September 13, we did a crash test in Raleigh at 35 mph into Aaron Kiefer’s (Collision Safety Consulting) latest side guard design.

The crumple zone worked to prevent Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). The windshield didn’t even crack. The airbag deployed. It was a smashing success!

As Aaron Kiefer reflects on the future, he is encouraged that the industry is starting to listen. He points out how we’ve proven that preventing side underride is possible, practical, and reasonable. He observes that we are at the edge of the beginning of the end of side underride tragedies. Aaron is hopeful that both the manufacturers and NHTSA will take note and find a way to move this forward in a timely fashion. “It’s a great time for underride safety,” says Aaron.

Raleigh engineer creating, testing truck underride crash barriers

Other media coverage:

There’s only one way to know if this safety device for trucks works: Crash a car into it: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article265716861.html

Watch a crash test of a new safety guard for tractor-trailer trucks https://www.newsobserver.com/…/local/article265742746.html

‘At first glance, it’s fairly effective’: Raleigh engineer creating, testing truck underride crash barriers https://www.cbs17.com/…/at-first-glance-its-fairly…/

We are grateful to so many people who made this important event possible and successful, including:

  • the amazing volunteer crash test crew;
  • the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for the use of their training facility, grounds, fire truck (to fill the water barricades), and general assistance to make it happen;
  • Copart for providing us with a crash car, including drop off and pick up after the crash;
  • Area Wide Protective (AWP) traffic control services for providing us with the use of water barricades and skinny drums to provide a safety zone for spectators and camera crew;
  • Dean’s Wrecker Service for transporting the crash trailer to the crash test site;
  • Accident Research Specialists of Cary for their expertise in crash test preparation;
  • Maverick Metalworks for their custom-design metal components for the side guard system;
  • Cargo Control USA of Sanford for the polyester webbing; and
  • Sonia Barnes for coming to view the crash test on behalf of Congressman David Price.

Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary, & countless others.

NHTSA Failing To Educate Stakeholders On Underride

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that their mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement. They seem to do a decent job of informing the public with a webpage on driver assistance technologies. However, the NHTSA Truck Underride Page only contains a very short list of studies. This is the extent of entries on that page:

For a century-old problem, there is actually a wealth of research, reports, and recommendations available. As a national traffic safety leader, NHTSA could be a source of all things underride. In fact, by posting a broader set of underride specific information, NHTSA could make use of their website to better inform and inspire all stakeholders at the same time without fear of unfairly communicating with one stakeholder. This would fulfill the first purpose of the Administrative Procedures Act which “requires agencies to keep the public informed and up-to-date on agency activities.”

On September 2, “TEAM Underride” met via Zoom to discuss how we could aid NHTSA in that mission by making recommendations for additions to the NHTSA Truck Underride Page. In an attempt to be helpful, TEAM Underride participants briefly brainstormed ideas for what we thought would be useful to add to the NHTSA Truck Underride webpage, including:

That would be a good start. And we’re more than willing to help in whatever way we can to get this resource development underway.

Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis Presentation

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A detailed cost benefit analysis of truck side guards was presented on August 26 at a TEAM Underride Zoom meeting. Eric Hein, father of 2015 side underride victim Riley Hein, originally completed this report in May 2021 and submitted it to NHTSA. In May 2022, he updated the analysis and report and again submitted it to NHTSA for consideration. See it here:

A cost-benefit analysis provides estimates of the anticipated benefits that are expected to accrue over a specified period and compares them to the anticipated costs. USDOT guidance ensures that the economic costs and benefits of road safety measures can be monetized and compared, leading to informed decision making. Delve into this cost benefit analysis to see how Eric arrives at these conclusions:

  • Over 15 years of phasing in, SUGs on new semi-trailers would save at least 3,560 lives and prevent 35,598 serious injuries.
  • An SUG with an aerodynamic skirt would offset their entire cost in the first year.
  • A SUG regulation is cost effective because the benefits of side underride guards substantially outweigh the costs.

Then answer the question: Should Secretary Buttigieg be able to determine that a side guard regulation would be cost-effective and therefore is “warranted”?

Unguarded and Unsafe: Death by Underride

Hein V. Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company: Jury Sends a Message to Trailer Manufacturers About Side Underride

Update on Underride Protection Progress

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In July 2022, eight years after our original petition was delivered to the Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), whose mission it is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement, took the following actions related to underride protection:

In this crash test video, the top test shows what IIHS has proven possible, the bottom test shows what the 2022 rule will require:

By refusing to revise the December 2015 NPRM to the TOUGHGuard proven level of strength, NHTSA has demonstrated an unwillingness to require that all manufacturers install these stronger guards as Standard on new trailers. To state the obvious, the result is that manufacturers may continue to offer these guards as an Option, thereby allowing the ongoing production of trailers — into the future — with guards having a known unreasonable risk of Death By Underride. How do they sleep at night knowing that their meaningless rhetoric and regulatory malpractice means many more innocent people will needlessly die?

This is nothing less than a reckless disregard for human life.

Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?

Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports

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Safety defect investigations are based upon complaints. That’s why we’re calling on people to help us submit UNDERRIDE Safety Problem Reports to NHTSA.

In response to our Petition for Investigation of Trailers Without Side Guards submitted to the US DOT on September 14, 2021, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington, DC, indicated that they had only received three complaints — besides our petition — about the safety hazard posed by tractor-trailers without side guards. They subsequently denied our petition on June 22, 2022.

Of course, we know that there have been many more than three side underride deaths and serious injuries. However, we are making plans to make sure that the ODI knows this as well and are launching a campaign for submission of underride complaints of all kinds to NHTSA — side, rear, front, tractor-trailer, Single Unit Trucks, and those involving not only passenger vehicle occupants but also pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

We are asking that people send us crash reports for collisions with trucks which they suspect involved underride. Send them to marianne@annaleahmary.com. We will submit these as complaints to ODI.

People who would like to make their own submission can do so by following this procedure:

Instructions for Submitting an Underride Complaint to ODI

Note: Please submit a written complaint even if you are unable to obtain a VIN.

We are thankful for all who have participated, and will participate, in the efforts of Team Underride — for the saving of many lives.