IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride

Truck Safety, , , , , , , , , ,

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)

Should A Bill To Decrease 38,680 Deaths/yr Be Tied To The Infrastructure Bill?

Safety Advocacy, , , ,

It has been 55 years since the National Traffic Safety & Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 ushered in an era of improved safety. Imagine all of the technological changes which have occurred since then. Yet motor vehicle crashes are still a leading cause of death. Why is this so?

Despite this senseless loss of life, safety advocates struggle to catalyze significant change. Efforts to save lives are restricted by the ongoing political tug-of-war over infrastructure legislation. Is it time for a new comprehensive National Traffic Safety Act to pass as a stand-alone bill?

National Traffic Safety Act of 2021

National Traffic Safety Act of 2021 Brochure

Let’s not get stuck in same old/same old strategies. Think outside of the box and come together collaboratively to bring about sweeping changes. Victims of traffic tragedies — gone in the blink of an eye — never come back. Protect the people.

They never come back.

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

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

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

Underride Included in Senate Bipartisan Surface Reauthorization Bill Introduced Today

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

GOOD NEWS: The Senate Commerce Committee just released the text of their Infrastructure Bill today.

It has an Underride Section which is very similar to the House T&I Committee’s Bill — not the full STOP Underrides Bill because it leaves out Front Underride Protection and Single Unit Trucks and doesn’t mandate side guards, only says to do research and develop a standard, if warranted.

But it is definitely more than we’ve ever had and we’re hoping that DOT is already motivated to take action. However, if you have been following the Infrastructure Bill in the news, nobody knows how it is going to be paid for — and that could hold things up!

Here’s a link to the Bill: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/…/ACEB4B07-B232-4176…

And here’s a link to the Underride Section: https://annaleahmary.com/…/Underride-Section-of…

Here’s an article in the media: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/…/cantwell-wicker…

Here’s an article on the House version: After 19-Hour Markup, Committee Advances Two Major Pieces of Bipartisan Legislation to Modernize America’s Infrastructure, Create Jobs, and Restore U.S. Global Competitiveness

After all, it’s only been 19,076 days since DOT said they were going to add side guards!

Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks

Truck Safety, , , , , ,

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.

Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride With Heavy Trucks:

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. Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks

What will it take to get UNDERRIDE on DOT Regulatory Agenda?

Truck Safety, , , , , ,

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.

A public commitment to Vision ZERO is lip service when it does not result in substantive action. What would constitute tangible progress?

1969 DOT Commitment to Add Side Guards to Trucks
1977 IIHS Appeal for Federal Action on Underride
1989 IIHS Status Report on Front Underride Protection

2011 IIHS petition to NHTSA concerning FMVSS 223 and 224

2013 & 2014 Petitions for Comprehensive Underride Rulemaking
2016 Petition for Comprehensive Underride Rulemaking
D.C. Underride Crash Test less than a mile from DOT, March 26, 2019
2021 Petition for Comprehensive Underride Rulemaking

Collaborative Discussion of Side Guard Challenges on Specialty Trucks

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

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).

Here is a summary of the discussion regarding the challenges of installing side guards on a variety of large trucks:

Discussion of Side Guards for Specialty Trucks – Underride Engineering Subcommittee

I have heard comments, in the past, that individuals and companies, which are designing, testing, and marketing innovative underride protection technology, are just in it to make money — as if they shouldn’t be trusted. I have found this to be far from the truth. I have observed selfless commitment to staying the course for the long haul to bring about solutions to a deadly problem which has been swept under the rug for far too long — with little hope, along the way, that there would be either a mandate or widespread voluntary adoption. Despite the decades of uncertainty, these resourceful people have held fast to this impossible dream.

The friendly and informative discussion among what-might-be-considered competitors was productive and appreciated. I hope that this meeting’s cooperative interaction to reach a shared goal is a foretaste of good things to come.