Tag Archives: IIHS

Eighth Major Trailer Manufacturer To Have Improved Rear Underride Guard Crash Tested at IIHS on July 10

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For several years before our underride crash, the IIHS had been doing crash testing into rear underride guards on trailers from eight major trailer manufacturers. Their research showed that even though these guards were designed to meet the current federal standard, they were too weak and failed to stop cars from going under upon collision.

We are grateful that seven of those manufacturers have designed improved rear guards as confirmed by crash testing at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center at 35 mph — receiving a TOUGHGUARD Award for their efforts. Here is an example of one of those seven:

While we are thankful, we know that the work isn’t over yet. Still needed:

  • The eighth manufacturer, Strick Trailers, will have their newly-designed rear underride guard tested on July 10.
  • Research is needed to demonstrate whether these improved guards are also successful at speeds higher than 35 mph. (We know that a guard developed by an aluminum extrusions company has been tested successfully at 40 mph and perhaps higher.)
  • Some manufacturers are selling these improved rear guards as Standard on all new trailers, while others are actually selling them as an Option (thus weak guards are still being sold and going on the road). Can you believe it?!
  • As the bill indicates, there are still millions of trucks on the road which will be hazardous to drive around until they are retrofitted with effective underride protection. For example, I bet that the trailer with which we collided is still on the road and likely still has a weak rear underride guard and so could kill someone else.

Stoughton Underride Guard Earns Kudos from Crash Survivor, Insurance Institute

Stoughton’s improved rear guard was successfully crash tested at 35 mph at the first Underride Roundtable at the IIHS on May 5, 2016 (3 years after our crash). They were the fourth manufacturer to do so (preceded by Manac, Vanguard, and Wabash — and later followed by Great Dane, Utility, and Hyundai):

Stoughton® Trailers New Rear Underride Guard Lauded Important for Safety

Video & PowerPoint Slides Posted by IIHS for the Second Underride Roundtable

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IIHS has posted video and PowerPoint Presentations from the Second Underride Roundtable on August 29, 2017.
 
 
Afternoon Session, Part 1/Side Guard Panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31VhLbAYlyw
 

Afternoon Session, Part 1/Industry Panel & Crash Avoidance Panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFyf—dZV4

“Mistakes happen on the road. The goal is to make sure that those don’t result in serious injury or death.”

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The most recent underride which I have heard about involved a car driver, in Wisconsin, who ran a stop sign and consequently collided with the side of a tractor-trailer resulting in underride. There is speculation that alcohol might be a factor.

Man transported to hospital by MedFlight after crashing into semitruck, sheriff says

Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of crash circumstance which undoubtedly has contributed to attitudes which blame the victim and neglect the underlying dangerous geometric mismatch between passenger vehicles and larger commercial motor vehicles. The result is that we have lost the opportunity to save lives by making truck crashes more survivable.

I have described this attitude along with other possible reasons why the underride problem has not been adequately addressed: A DIFFERENT STRATEGY To Achieve Underride Protection

“Mistakes happen on the road. The goal is to make sure that those mistakes don’t result in serious injury or death.” That’s what Eric Flack said he was told by the IIHS in one of the segments of his truck underride series.

Understanding Underride II: From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

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Here is some basic information on understanding underride from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS):

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. Matt Brumbelow, a research engineer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), discusses the problem of truck underride and the research which IIHS has done to study rear and side underride protection.

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

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety once again did a fantastic job of hosting the Underride Roundtable. They have now provided us with links to the Second Underride Roundtable held at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Virginia, on August 29, 2017. Here is the agenda, followed by the videos:

Video Links from the Second Underride Roundtable at the IIHS on August 29, 2017

 

 

Video Links from the Second Underride Roundtable at the IIHS on August 29, 2017

Truck Safety, , , ,

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety once again did a fantastic job of hosting the Underride Roundtable. They have now provided us with links to the Second Underride Roundtable held at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Virginia, on August 29, 2017. Here is the agenda, followed by the videos:

Truck Underride Roundtable 2 – Morning Session, Part 1:

 

Truck Underride Roundtable 2 – Morning Session, Part 2:

 

Truck Underride Roundtable 2 – Side Guard Panel:

 

Truck Underride Roundtable 2 – Industry Response and Crash Avoidance Panel:

 

Side Guard Crash Test at 40 mph on August 29, 2017:

 

Side Underride & Side Guard Crash Tests at 35 mph at IIHS on March 30 & 31, 2017:

 

 

David Harkey, Experienced Highway Safety Research Director at UNC, To Be New IIHS President

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I sat down this Spring with Dr. David Harkey, Director of the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, to discuss the truck underride problem and the fact that it is a major public health problem and not just a transportation issue. After that, I enthusiastically recommended that he be the keynote speaker at the Second Underride Roundtable on August 20 at IIHS.

So when I found out yesterday that he had been named the new president of the IIHS — replacing the accomplished Adrian Lund, whom I got to meet in March — I was very excited. I look forward to watching him effectively lead that safety organization and help bring us closer to zero deaths.

Read about it here:

 

In underride, first point of contact with the truck is your windshield, then your head.

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Just yesterday, as Isaac and I were nearing the end of our road trip from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast, Isaac said, “Maybe next time we make this trip, the trucks will look different and be a whole lot safer.”
 
I am very grateful that we are seeing significant progress in underride protection. And the gathering of almost 100 people at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on August 29 has helped to continue the work of many people to make that possible.
 
Dawn King, president of the Truck Safety Coalition, with photos and video, describes the recent Underride Roundtable at the IIHS and why it was so important. Because a truck underride crash can happen to anyone. To AnnaLeah & Mary. To you or somebody you care about.
 
As Dawn explained,
“When you slide under a trailer your car’s safety features aren’t activated because your front bumper doesn’t hit anything. The first part of your car to come in contact with the trailer is your windshield. And then your head.”
 
“Someday soon the results of lots of peoples dreams will come to fruition. And it will happen because people from all walks of life sat down and talked. Trailer manufacturers, truck companies, safety experts, devastated families, government officials.”
 
Just what I’ve been hoping for:
 
After our crash, Jerry wrote to numerous trailer manufacturing companies asking them to voluntarily step up their underride guard standards. We got some positive response and stirred up interest in companies — to whom he also wrote — who purchase trailers–enlightening them as well. One of the manufacturers, Great Dane, invited us to tour their Research & Design Center on June 25, 2014.
 
Afterwards, I posted this: Underride Guards: Can we “sit down at the table together” and work this out? with this video: “Underride Guards: Now What?” to summarize what I saw as the frustrating lack of progress on improving underride guards and the seeming lack of communication among the various responsible parties with the authority to do something about it.
 
Of course, we weren’t the only ones frustrated with the inaction on what seems to be a drastically-needed change. When we took our 11,000+ signed petitions to DC in May 2014, we met with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). At that time, they put it like this: “It is safer to run into a brick wall than into the back of a truck.” Yet, seemingly, nothing was being done about it. So we helped to organize the first and then the second Underride Roundtable.
 
Now something is being done about it.
 
We don’t have to let this continue to happen. We can do something to prevent deadly truck underride crashes. I’ve put together some ways that YOU, too, can help make trucks safer: https://annaleahmary.com/how-you-can-help/
 
See more video and media coverage here: Media Coverage of the Second Underride Roundtable

History of Truck Underride Recommendations in the U.S.

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A senator’s Office recently asked me to provide them with a one-page history of reports and recommendations made on the truck underride problem in the U.S. Here it is (with clickable links):

Truck Underride Reports & Recommendations in the U.S.

Just in: Truck Underride Statistics by State From NHTSA & IIHS

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Yesterday I contacted NHTSA and IIHS and asked them if they would be able to look at their data on underride deaths and break them out by State. They both graciously made it a priority and created some new charts, graphs, and a map.

The pdf from NHTSA has data taken from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), by which NHTSA collects information on fatal crashes from each state. This extensive chart covers the time period of 1994 to 2015, showing underride deaths when the initial collision was at the front, side, and rear of trailers — first for the country, followed by a similar format for each state. Numbers are shown one year at a time and then totaled:

Passenger Vehicle Underride Fatalities by State, 1994-2015, by NHTSA

Please remember that it is well-known that underride deaths are under-counted in these charts. In fact, Lois Durso and I both have found that our daughters deaths are not accurately reported in these charts.

We also received a graph of underride deaths by State for 2015 from Matt Brumbelow at the IIHS. Specifically, these are “2015 Passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in 2-vehicle crashes with tractor-trailers.”

Matt asked me to explain further, “that 2015 is still the latest year of data that NHTSA has released.  Also, that while not all these crashes will have involved underride, our estimates based on other studies is that underride occurs in 80-90% of tractor-trailer rear and side crashes with serious/fatal injuries.”

PV Fatalities in Truck Crashes 2015 per IIHS

U.S. Map PV Fatalities Truck Crashes in 2015 per IIHS

I hope that these visual and informative tools will aid us, as a nation, in addressing this tragic but preventable public health problem.

Australian Engineer Comments on U.S. Underride Protection

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See a paper by Raphael Grzebieta and George Rechnitzer here: Proposed Australian/New Zealand AS/NZS 3845.2 Standard for Truck Underrun Barriers: Design, Testing and Performance Requirements

2 Moms, Sick & Tired of Waiting, Draft Truck Underride Legislation

March Historically a Momentous Month for Truck Underride Safety Advocacy; Beware the Ides of March!