Despite the COVID-19 shutdown of many activities, there is a lot happening related to truck underride. Here’s a quick summary:

• While we hope for April showers to bring May flowers, this year I was encouraged to see that the April 17 Side Guard Task Force Meeting led to multiple May Subcommittee meetings of an informal but active Underride Protection Committee — Engineering, Awareness, Advocacy, Research and Industry Engagement meetings have all taken place. Underride Protection Committee brochure
• We also launched the SaferTruck System Award Program to encourage fleets to voluntarily adopt these life saving features. SaferTruck System Awards
• In May, the FMCSA published a report [A Literature Review of Lateral Protection Devices on Trucks Intended for Reducing Pedestrian and Cyclist Fatalities] on the pedestrian safety truck side guard study [Study of Truck Side Guards to Reduce Pedestrian Fatalities] completed last year by Volpe Transportation Center. The conclusion acknowledges that pedestrians and cyclists could be saved by what they term Lateral Protection Devices. But the report notably fails to discuss a cost benefit analysis — included in the Volpe report — or make any recommendations. So, why did taxpayers foot a $200,000 bill for research that might not result in tangible action to save lives?
• Guess what! I just checked and the FMCSA clearly revised the webpage from when I visited it in January 2020. The page no longer states this information (which I fortunately recorded in an email): “Five key tasks are included in this project: (1) study interaction of a potential side guard with other truck parts and accessories (e.g., fuel tanks, fire extinguisher, exhaust system) and the implications for a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation; (2) investigate applicable international side guard standards; (3) perform a preliminary cost-benefit analysis of truck side guard deployment; (4) propose recommendations; and (5) propose means for voluntary adoption.“
• Instead, that page now says: “This research product contains a literature review of regulations and effectiveness studies in other countries. The effectiveness estimates from studies in other countries cannot be applied to the U.S.—in part because of different regulatory and infrastructure environments— “ What?! That’s it?! What about all of the other information included in the $200,000 study? Where’s the CBA?
• The FULL study (not simply the literature review) needs to be made available to the Senate Commerce Committee, the House T&I Committee, and the Underride Protection Committee — including the vehicle part interactions report, the cost-benefit analysis report, the Draft final report, and the FINAL Report. Period.
• The Dragon launch on May 30 and the docking with the international space station on May 31 proves that we still know how to solve problems. Let’s apply that to deadly underride!