Tag Archives: rear underride guard

$462M Jury Verdict Over Rear Impact Guard Design

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For over 50 years, NHTSA has failed to require truck trailers to be equipped with underride guards that protect road users from death and injury. The industry has lobbied to keep it that way and tens of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives as a result. This week, a St. Louis jury made a trailer manufacturer pay a just price.

Why would the jury do so? Could it have been because Wabash continued to sell an inadequate rear impact guard as standard equipment — even though they have a safer option available — and because of the industry’s opposition and the government’s abandonment of public safety?

Justice has been served.

MEDIA COVERAGE

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.

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

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Not only have we lost two daughters due to a weak rear underride guard, but we continue to see countless loved ones lost to other families in a similar way. Senseless deaths. Solutions are available — developed by innovative engineers but too often left on the shelf while people continue to die.

I get Google Alert notifications of truck crashes every day. Here are the rear underride fatalities which I have found in the last few months:

This memorial remembers a few of the countless underride victims from past years.

This video shows the difference between too weak & stronger guards:

Convinced?

FMCSA Proposed Rule For Inspection of Rear Underride Guards

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A red letter day: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at long last has proposed a rule to add rear underride guards to Appendix G. What does that mean? It means that rear underride guards will be required to be in good condition in order to pass an annual vehicle inspection. Once the rule is actually issued.

The Public can comment on this proposed rule through March 1, 2021, by going here.

This describes the current status of rear guard inspection requirements, according to FMCSA:

While the FMCSRs have required rear impact guards for more than 65 years, they are not included on the list of components in Appendix G that must be inspected during the annual CMV inspection. This means that a vehicle can pass an annual inspection with a missing or damaged rear impact guard. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-27502.pdf

Imagine!

In response to petitions from the CVSA and Jerry and Marianne Karth (“the Karths”1 ); a recommendation included in GAO Report GAO-19-264, “Truck Underride Guards: Improved Data Collection, Inspections, and Research Needed;”2 and Congressional correspondence,3 this rulemaking proposes to amend the FMCSRs to include rear impact guards on the list of items that must be examined as part of the required annual inspection for each CMV.

I have not yet read the whole document, but I am getting ready to do so now in order to make an informed and practical comment. I will definitely recommend that damaged guards be replaced with ones which meet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) TOUGHGuard level of strength to STOP deadly underride — not merely with an older model which has been proven to be too weak.

Over one hurdle. On to the next.

Proper Maintenance of Underride Guards Can Spell the Difference Between L-i-f-e & D-e-a-t-h

Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , ,

It is to their credit that nine U.S. trailer manufacturers have improved their rear underride guard design to meet the IIHS TOUGHGuard standard and seven of them are putting it on all new trailers as Standard. What that means is that they have surpassed the current federal standard and have been crash tested to show that they are more likely to prevent underride and catastrophic Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) — thereby more likely to save lives when passenger vehicles rear end tractor-trailers.

See the difference between a too weak and a stronger guard:

Read more here: Recognizing good rear underride protection

Unfortunately, that does not help underride victims who crash into older models with too weak rear underride guards. Until the entire fleet has this stronger protection, people will continue to die from an engineering problem that has already been solved.

Underride Crash Memorials (the tip of the iceberg)

Thankfully, there are retrofit solutions available. This is what I know:

Note: When I called a local truck part company, the person with whom I talked knew nothing about improved rear guard retrofit parts. They were still selling the old model of generic horizontal bumper tubes. In other words, despite the availability of improved guards, many trucking companies are replacing damaged guards with the old model which can’t stop a car in an offset crash.

Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020

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In 2016, Aaron’s team conducted a full overlap rear crash test at approximately 35 mph closure.  This test, which was conducted on a reinforced trailer that had already suffered significant rear collision damage.  The lightly reinforced rear guard wasn’t able to prevent underride.  (TrailerGuards.com) 

Aaron’s team has continued to develop trailer underride guards.  Recently, they crashed a reinforced trailer with a 2012 Chevy Impala at 38 mph and approximately 25% overlap.  This test illustrated that bolt on reinforcements can prevent deadly underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI).   

Video of Crash Test into a 2005 Vanguard Trailer with a reinforced rear underride guard at 38 mph on January 25, 2020:

Compare that to a crash test by IIHS of a Vanguard 2013 trailer with a weak rear underride guard at 35 mph — at 8:28 on this video:

Crash car after the 38 mph collision into the rear of a tractor trailer: No Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) Hallelujah!!!

Compare that to the initial design of the Rear Reinforcement Attachments on March 12, 2016:

Now that we have proof that these lightweight aluminum plates can prevent deadly underride, should we simply encourage voluntary adoption of this life-saving safety solution? Or should we require every truck in the U.S. to install safety equipment which can meet that level of performance?

In other words, are we going to make it the law to install equipment which can prevent underride when passenger vehicles collide with the rear of large trucks?

8-year-old boy killed in crash involving pickup, tractor-trailer in Lubbock County

1 person dies after pickup truck crashes into delivery truck on Taylorsville Road

Va. family grieves after man killed in Thanksgiving underride crash

Ready For Crash Testing

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Crash testing is always unnerving: Will it work — successfully preventing underride and Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI)? Or will it fail — providing some useful information but sending the enthusiastic engineer back to the drawing board?

Either way, the adrenaline of anticipation followed by the jarring crash invariably leave me unsettled.

Rear Reinforcement Attachment: an aluminum device installed at outer edges of a trailer’s rear underride guard to strengthen it

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Aaron Kiefer readies his Rear Reinforcement Attachment, an aluminum device installed at the outer edges of a trailer’s rear underride guard to strengthen it — preventing underride to make truck crashes more survivable & save lives.

Making plans for an upcoming crash test in North Carolina. Stay tuned as we work hard to #STOPunderrides!

Why is this needed? See the difference between a weak and strong rear underride guard:

Successful 40 mph Crash Test of Sapa Extrusions Aluminum Rear Underride Guard

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Malcolm Deighton, inventor of the SAPA rear underride guard, discusses how they tested their aluminum guard successfully at 35 mph and then at 40 mph.

You can see the 40 mph crash test at about 5:36 on this video:

Here is the engineering report on that crash testing: Sapa 40-30 RIG Test Engineering Report Version 1.3 (1)

Rear Underride Guard Facts:

  1. The current federal standard for rear impact guards has specifications for preventing underride at impact speeds of 30 mph (though not requiring a crash test).
  2. The proposed standard in limbo at NHTSA now would upgrade it to 35 mph to meet the Canadian standard (although most manufacturers are already meeting the Canadian standard). However, the NPRM and the Canadian standard do not require that the guards stop a vehicle for the full width of the guard. That’s what the IIHS has proven with their crash testing program.
  3. The IIHS has tested the new designs of the 8 major trailer manufacturers and given them each a TOUGHGuard Award for being able to pass a crash test at 35 mph across the full width of the back of the trailer.
  4. These stronger guards are being sold on new trailers — some as a standard feature and some as an Option.
  5. There are retrofit kits which can be installed on existing trailers to provide TOUGHGuard quality underride protection at the rear of trailers. There have been very few of these sold — a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 11 million+ trailers on the road which have the older, too weak rear guards.
  6. Additionally, Sapa Extrusions (now Hydro), an aluminum extrusion company, has designed an aluminum rear underride guard which has been successfully tested at 40 mph. Since this is now known to be possible, why would we not mandate a standard which would require this amount of protection at minimum?
  7. The STOP Underrides! Bill calls for research to be completed to ascertain the outer limits of underride protection — so we know what level of protection can reasonably be required.
  8. The STOP Underrides! Bill also calls for establishment of a Committee On Underride Protection to facilitate collaborative and effective discussion among all stakeholders.

School Bus Underride Protection Was Proposed by DOT in 1967

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Just for the record, apparently passenger vehicles can ride under the rear of school buses upon collision. It happens. It kills. It’s preventable.

Deadly Accident Involving School Bus in Arkansas

Deadly Accident Involving School Bus in Arkansas; The death and serious injuries were in an SUV that hit the bus, Sept. 21, 2015, OzarksFirst.com

Questions About Rear Under-Ride Bars On School Buses Follow Deadly Crash, 5News, Sept. 22, 2015

Read the reports and decide for yourself:

Posts on School Bus Underride