Tag Archives: AngelWing

“AEB that reliably detects trucks could prevent underride crashes.” Meanwhile, what should we do?

Truck Safety, , , , , ,

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) on passenger vehicles is a good thing. It’s purpose is to reduce the chance of a rear-end collision or decrease the severity of the impact if it does occur. But does it function as intended when the vehicle in front of a car is a large truck?

A recent report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) implies that it does not reliably do so:

When it comes to preventing typical front-to-rear crashes, automatic emergency braking is a proven winner. Extending its functionality to address less-common types of rear-end crashes involving turning, changing lanes or striking heavy trucks or motorcycles, for instance, would help maximize autobrake’s benefits, a new IIHS study indicates. . .

Autobrake systems that reliably detect large trucks could prevent underride crashes. Twelve percent of U.S. passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2017 were in crashes with large trucks, and 1 in 5 of these deaths occurred when a passenger vehicle struck the rear of a large truck.

Autobrake is good, but it could be better, IIHS, Status Report, Vol. 54, No. 2, February 21, 2019

If I am interpreting this correctly, this means that, currently, AEB on many vehicles do not reliably detect large trucks in order to prevent underride crashes. This is no surprise as there is almost 4 feet from the bottom of most trucks to the ground; the sensors are apparently not located in such a way as to be able to detect the truck body. No threat is recognized.

Therefore, it appears to me that we cannot rely on the current collision avoidance technology to prevent rear-end collisions of cars into trucks. If we want to more reliably prevent deadly underride and gruesome passenger compartment intrusion, why then would we not install effective comprehensive underride protection on all large trucks?

See what happens when collision does occur into the rear of a truck which is and is not equipped with an effective rear underride guard:

By the way, the same is, of course, true for the sides of large trucks where there is nothing but open space — nothing for the car’s sensors to detect. What will we do about that?

Download this video file to view a recent crash test by Aaron Kiefer into the side of a trailer equipped with the latest version of his SafetySkirt: Video Feb 24, 2 24 45 PM

AngelWing Crash Test at IIHS, March 30, 2017

Perry Ponder Posts Public Comment on NHTSA Rear Underride NPRM

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Perry Ponder, inventor of the AngelWing side guard, has made another great contribution in the pursuit of improved underride protection. Earlier this week, I saw that I had received a notification of a new public comment on the rear guard NPRM.

His letter begins with this comment:

As NHTSA moves at a glacial pace toward revising FMVSS 223 and 224, I’d like to point out an underride guard mode of failure I have observed while investigating a number of trailer and truck underride accidents.

 
> DOCUMENT ID:
> DOCUMENT TYPE: OTHER
> POSTED DATE: 05/14/2018
> DOCUMENT TITLE: Seven Hills Engineering
> – Letter
 I hope that Perry Ponder will be one of the members of the Committee On Underride Protection (COUP) which the STOP Underrides! Bill calls for in order to establish transparent, consistent, and ongoing communication and collaboration to help us more quickly end preventable Death By Underride.

Sen. Gillibrand questions Chris Spear, CEO of ATA, on truck underride protection.

Truck Safety, , , ,

This morning, Senator Gillibrand took the opportunity at a Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Hearing on to ask Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Associations, some questions about truck underride.

Thank you, Senator Gillibrand, for continuing to move us forward toward an end to preventable underride tragedies.

I met with Chris Spear on March 29, 2017, to discuss our newly drafted underride bill. And I wrote a post in May in response to the kinds of concerns he raised in the hearing today. He asked Senator Gillibrand to encourage NHTSA to speed their evaluation of whether the added weight of side guards would compromise the structural integrity of trailers.

Here is that post: Question for the ATA: Is it necessary to choose EITHER crash avoidance OR occupant protection — not BOTH?

And here is the response to Mr. Spear’s concerns — from the inventor of the AngelWing side guard, Perry Ponder:

AngelWing has undergone extensive standard industry testing and analysis including durability track testing. Designed by a trailer engineer (me), AngelWing works in harmony with existing trailer designs with no effect on the trailer structure or durability. 

Help hasten the installation of effective truck underride protection. Sign & Share our petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Understanding Underride IV: Side Underride

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A panel of experts discuss underride at a Briefing on The Hill, October 12, 2017, to bring greater understanding of the problem and solutions of deadly but preventable truck underride. Robert Lane, VP of Product Engineering at Wabash National — a trailer manufacturer, discusses their commitment to development of underride protective devices for the prevention of underride deaths and debilitating injuries.

For more information on the STOP Underrides! Act of 2017, go to https://annaleahmary.com/ and/or https://stopunderrides.org/

Posts and articles on side underride:

 

 

Animated Illustration of Airflow Deflector’s AngelWing Side Guard

Truck Safety, ,

Check out this animated illustration of Airflow Deflector’s Angel Wing side guard. . .

IIHS Proves That Side Underride Crashes Are Deadly But Preventable: Seeing Is Believing

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On March 30, Jerry and I witnessed a crash test at 35 mph of a car into the side of a trailer  — with an AngelWing side guard installed — at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Virginia. The guard was successful in stopping the car from riding under the trailer, i.e., passenger occupants would have survived.

The next day, another car was crashed at 35 mph into the side of a trailer — with a side skirt but no side guard. The car went under the trailer. Occupants would not have survived.

See it for yourself because Seeing Is Believing:

This one may be tough to watch:

The IIHS released the news today:

Note this quote from David Zuby, IIHS Chief Research Officer:
 

“Our tests and research show that side underride guards have the potential to save lives,” says David Zuby, the Institute’s executive vice president and chief research officer. “We think a mandate for side underride guards on large trucks has merit, especially as crash deaths continue to rise on our roads.”

The wheels on a tractor and trailer offer some underride protection if a passenger vehicle were to strike them. With no side underride guard, only 28 percent of a 53-foot trailer’s length would be protected from underride. With the AngelWing side underride guard in place, 62 percent of the trailer’s length would be protected. Side underride guards can be retrofitted to existing semitrailers.

The IIHS also released data from their recent in-depth analysis of NHTSA FARS truck crash fatality information:

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2-vehicle crashes with tractor-trailers, 2005-15

IIHS analysis of NHTSA FARS Data

Year

Passenger vehicle

strikes side

of tractor-trailer

Passenger vehicle

strikes rear

of tractor-trailer

All crashes

with tractor-trailers

2015

301

292

1,542

2014

308

220

1,409

2013

274

213

1,377

2012

306

216

1,376

2011

246

189

1,362

2010

319

181

1,417

2009

269

174

1,237

2008

290

180

1,526

2007

417

218

1,771

2006

394

260

1,853

2005

441

258

1,932

Per Matt Brumbelow and Eric Teoh, IIHS, May 10, 2017

March 30, 2017, AngelWing Crash Test: Lois Durso, John Lannen, Andy Young, Marianne Karth, Jerry Karth, Martin Fleury, Perry Ponder, Mariella Amoros, Robert Martineau

If this many people were dying from an automotive defect and we knew it and we knew how to fix it, would we stand by and let those deaths continue?! Maybe that is the wrong question to ask because those kinds of deadly defects have been neglected as well. But the point is,

What will we choose to do at this crossroads?

Continue to allow underride deaths?

OR

Act responsibly to prevent these tragedies?

This is not the first time we have witnessed successful prevention of deadly side underride:

Let’s mandate/install comprehensive underride protection — all around all large trucks — now! RAMCUP Draft 9 Comprehensive Underride Protection Act of 2017

“Deadly side underride crashes can now be addressed”

Truck Safety, , ,

Robert Martineau, President and CEO of Airflow Deflector, Inc., discusses the problem of side underride:

It’s one of the most devastating traffic accidents: A car slams into the side of a tractor-trailer and crashes underneath and where most of its many safety features like airbags and other sensors are rendered worthless. As a result, the top of the vehicle may be sheared off; in many cases, the occupants are fatally injured.

Read more here: Announcement: “Deadly side underride crashes can now be addressed”

Perry Ponder, inventor of the AngelWing side underride protective device, explains to Jerry Karth how his side guard is installed and does its life-saving work.

NBC News Updates Article on Today Show Side Underride Report

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NBC News received a letter from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association about the Today Show investigative report on Side Underride. After further investigation, NBC News added this to their article on the report:

Update and correction: After the publication of our story, we received a letter from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA), which argues that our report overstated the simplicity of the side guard fix and that prototypes have been technical and commercial failures. TTMA made the same argument to NHTSA in a letter we referenced in our report, which you can read here. They also told us that TTMA has not made any political donations to lawmakers on the issue of side underrides, including to Senator Thune. In response to other points made by TTMA, we have updated our online report with TTMA’s response that guards in Europe are focused on protecting bicyclists and pedestrians, not automobiles and that NTSB said injuries and deaths “could” be reduced by side guards, instead of “would.” We also have updated campaign finance data, broken out donations from the trucking sector of the transportation industry, and corrected the period during which those donations were made.

I previously wrote about the TTMA’s May 13, 2016 letter to NHTSA about side guards. Read it here.

Despite the TTMA’s objections to the report, the fact remains that almost as many people die from side underride crashes each year as from rear underride crashes. And, furthermore, I have seen with my own eyes the difference that side guards can make in stopping deadly underride.

Will we let the technical and commercial failures of side guard prototypes in the past stop us from keeping at the task of solving this problem? I thank God for people like Aaron Kiefer and Perry Ponder who have kept at it until they successfully proved what human ingenuity could do to save lives.

Note:  In fact, Europe’s side guard standards are designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists — which the U.S. should do, too! But Europe does not require the prevention of cars from underriding trucks. I have been in communication with a global automotive regulation specialist, and I hope that what happens here in the U.S. will have a ripple effect globally.