Tag Archives: Senator Gillibrand

STOP Underrides Bill Re-Introduced In Senate & House

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

Today, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN-9), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10), and Deborah Ross (D-NC-2) introduced legislation to help prevent deadly truck underride crashes.

Sign the 2026 Petition: Tell Congress to Pass STOP Underrides 2.0 – Make Truck Crashes Survivable

Legislation was introduced in 2017, 2019, and 2021. Underride provisions were included in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The 2026 Stop Underrides Act 2.0 would expand on current restrictions by instructing rulemaking to require side underride guards on new trucks, improving data collection, and directing additional research on underride crashes. Specifically, this bill would:

  • Require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to finalize rulemaking requiring side underride guards on commercial trucks. 
  • Restart the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, to provide recommendations for how to reduce underride crashes and severe injuries and fatalities caused by underrides.
  • Require the DOT to publish a website making underrides research accessible to researchers, industry, and advocates. 
  • Instruct the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the prevalence of underride incidents, including those involving the fronts of large trucks.
  • Instruct NHTSA to create free, on-demand web-based training for state and local law enforcement to better identify and document underride crashes. 
  • Instruct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of the implementation of NHTSA’s 2022 rear underride rule and provide suggestions to better improve the rule. 
  • Instruct NHTSA to review its Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and correct crashes in the database that should have been classified as an underride but were not — including Vulnerable Road Users, i.e., pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

The House bill is H.R. 7354. Its companion bill in the Senate is S. 3775. You can read the full bill text here.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Basic Underride Information

This is what the bill sponsors are saying:

“Truck underride guards are one of the best and easiest solutions for protecting passengers during collisions with large trucks,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The Stop Underrides Act 2.0 is commonsense legislation that will protect passengers and make our roads safer. I look forward to working across the aisle to get this passed.”

“I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing life-saving legislation to make our roads safer,” said Senator Luján. “The Stop Underrides Act will help prevent deadly underride crashes and protect families from tragic, preventable loss. I’m grateful for Senator Gillibrand’s leadership on this important issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this bill signed into law.”

“The Stop Underrides Act 2.0 would help prevent these terrible and too-often fatal truck-trailer accidents by ensuring that cars can no longer slide underneath trucks,” said Representative Cohen. “In introducing this legislation, I’m reminded of my constituents Randy and Laurie Higginbotham who lost their son in an underride crash in Memphis in 2014. The Stop Underrides Act 2.0 builds on important progress made in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and will save lives by helping to end these fatal crashes.”

“With truck underride collisions claiming the lives of at least 300 people per year, the time to act on reforms is now. Small changes will make a big difference, and we cannot leave any room for error,” said Congressman DeSaulnier. “I am proud to join my colleagues in advancing this bill to put an end to these avoidable tragedies.”

“Requiring trucks to have underride guards is a simple way to prevent hundreds of deaths on our roads,” said Congresswoman Ross. “These guards are a proven, effective safety measure that will reduce underride crashes as well as severe injuries and fatalities caused by underrides. I have heard directly from families in my district about the lives this improvement could save. I’m proud to introduce legislation that will prevent vehicle fatalities and make our roads safer for drivers in North Carolina and across the country.”

We had the opportunity to discuss underride with our representative, Congresswoman Ross, during a 2025 Town Hall. We appreciate her responsiveness and her support of this important legislation.

In the Senate, the Stop Underrides Act 2.0 is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). This bill is supported by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, America Walks, AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety, Cascade Bicycle Club, Casey Feldman Foundation, Center for Auto Safety, EndDistractedDriving.org, Families for Safe Streets, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, League of American Bicyclists, Institute for Safer Trucking, Kids and Car Safety, Ride Illinois, Ride of Silence, Road Safe America, Sylvia Bingham Fund, Safe Routes Partnership, Stop Underrides, and Truck Safety Coalition.

Rationale for Republican Support of STOP Underrides Bill

Let’s make 2026 the year we pass legislation to make truck crashes more survivable!

David vs Goliath: Will Industry Lobby Power Win the Day in the Battle to End Preventable Truck Underride?

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

Almost fifty years ago, on March 19, 1969, the Department of Transportation publicly stated their intention to add underride protection to the sides of large vehicles. So why have they not yet done so?

Is it lack of data? Sure, the deadly underride problem is vastly undercounted. But the thousands of underride deaths actually recorded since that date are certainly enough to confirm that this problem needs to be addressed.

Is it a lack of practical, viable solutions? Actually, engineers have offered solutions to every kind of underride for decades. But without a mandate, investors are hesitant to back them and manufacturers are reluctant to stick their necks out in a highly competitive industry. (We have heard this with our own ears.)

So what is it then that has prevented DOT from moving forward to end Death By Underride? I have some good guesses. But look for yourself at this published evidence of industry attitude toward the idea of underride regulations (to end preventable horrific deaths & debilitating injuries), and then tell me what you think. . .

Yesterday morning, I saw a Tweet from the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC) in which they applauded the 2019 NTSB Most Wanted List. It included a link to an article in Bulk Transporter which carries on about how committed the Tank Truck Association is to highway safety and making the roads safer:

. . . NTTC’s members are always working to improve in these areas, incorporating the best technologies and people-management practices to combat distracted, impaired, and fatigued driving. NTTC is particularly pleased that none of the 45 recommendations in the Ensure the safe Shipment of Hazardous Materials section relate to highway mode transportation. Tank truck carriers carry a disproportionately large number of hazardous materials loads and work diligently to ensure they are transported safely.

“NTTC is pleased that our members’ efforts has resulted in zero highway-mode recommendations on the hazardous materials most wanted list,” said NTTC President Daniel Furth.

NTTC is dedicated to highway safety, and it looks forward to working with NTSB, the Department of Transportation, its modal agencies, and other stakeholders to make America’s highways as safe as possible. https://www.bulktransporter.com/tank-fleets/nttc-applauds-ntsb-s-most-wanted-list-transportation-safety-improvements

When I mentioned this to Jerry — because I was plotting how to reply to their Tweet asking them to also support safety through underride protection — he reminded me of a previous article, which I had found last Spring, where this same group (NTTC) stated that they anticipated a potential battle to fight a side underride mandate:

Miller: NTTC serves as an advocate for the industry.We track state and federal issues. For instance, we’re involved with trying to shut down the California rest break requirement, which is a bad deal for trucking companies and their drivers. It interferes with interstate commerce. 

BT: Is NTTC achieving success with efforts to preempt state rules that conflict with federal regulations?

Miller: Yes. NTTC does a great job of catching these issues early. We have significantly better legal and lobbying representation today. We’re also in a very strong financial condition, and we have funds available to finance our efforts. 

We’re the only organization that fought against the proposed mandate to ban wet lines, and we won. We may have to face off on a possible side-underride mandate in the near future. 

https://www.bulktransporter.com/tank-fleets/lee-miller-targets-drivers-critical-tank-truck-industry-issue (an excerpt at the very bottom of this lengthy interview article from April 30, 2018)

Draw your own conclusions and then ask yourself: “Will I be part of those who are swayed by the industry arguments and lobbying power and turn a blind eye to preventable and unimaginable underride tragedies? Or, will I stand with those who plead on behalf of the countless vulnerable victims of Death By Underride and call for a comprehensive underride protection mandate?”

Do you count yourself with David or Goliath?

Moms on a Mission to Make Truck Crashes More Survivable

After all, it was a fatal underride crash under the side of a milk tanker truck on July 6, 2017, which caught the attention of the U.S. Senators from New York.

Ambulance workers returning from call killed in I-81 milk tanker crash

Subsequently, Senator Schumer called for improved underride protection and Senator Gillibrand committed herself to supporting our drafted comprehensive underride protection bill, which was introduced on December 12, 2017, as the STOP Underrides! Act of 2017.

And here is a more recent fatal underride crash involving a tanker truck on December 26, 2018:

Four people were killed early Wednesday morning after the driver of the vehicle crashed into a tanker truck on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey, police said.

Kevin Quispe-Prieto, 21, Jimmy Quispe-Prieto, 23, Victor Lugo, 24, and Robert Ordenana, 23, were killed following a crash near Berkley Township just before 3 a.m. Wednesday, New Jersey state police said. The driver of the oil tanker, who was not identified, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

Four people were killed after their vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer.
Four people were killed after their vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer. (FOX5NY)
Photo & video of car at back of tanker truck: 
And another side underride crash into a milk tanker truck: Deadly Milk Truck Crash Reported On Gilman Springs Road
  1. A few years ago, I discovered a March 16, 1977 Senate Investigative hearing, which was reported on in the March 29, 1977 IIHS Status Report.
  2. This is how that report began: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released the results of a crash test program focused on the deadly problem of car-into-truck underride crashes. Appearing as lead-off witness at a March 16 Senate Investigative hearing, the Institute’s president, William Haddon, Jr., M.D., presented crash test films and analyses showing that: The 25 year-old federal “rear end protection” standard for devices on the backs of tractor-trailers and trucks is “a sham.”
  3. Further, Haddon warned Senators, “Blood has been shed, heads literally have rolled and countless thousands of Americans have been injured because these agencies did not act. Further inaction would be inexcusable.”

 

Our stories show the world that this violence has to end.
But the forces up against us make it hard to score a win.
Yet we’ll climb up this mountain of grief once again.
Weeping is our strength; let this battle begin.

Lyrics: from the broken heart of a mother (remembering the peace and joy of AnnaLeah and Mary); Tune: Simple Gifts

Note: Here is a 1989 University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) study including analysis of NHTSA rulemaking on rear guards:
“As indicated throughout our analysis, the proposed NHTSA rule was
never implemented. The exact reasons for not adopting it were
never explicitly stated. However, one can infer that the strong
opposition by the entire trucking industry combined with
‘”deregulation'” sentiments of the recent administration were the
major factors in its failure to be implemented. We note that
failure to implement a rule on underride guards took place
despite extensive research indicating their expected

Senator Gillibrand Responds to Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn Concerns re: STOP Underrides! Bill

Truck Safety, , , ,

On December 19, 2017, shortly after the STOP Underrides! Bill was introduced, I called Mike Matousek, Director of Government Affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). I told him about the bill and asked him if we could discuss any concerns they might have about the legislation. He agreed to look it over.

Despite the fact that I sent reams of information about the underride problem and solutions and tried to set up face to face meetings with OOIDA representatives, OOIDA proceeded to issue a letter of opposition to Senator Gillibrand and Senator Rubio on January 29:

OOIDA S 2219 Letter

On March 3, trucker advocates Allen and Donna Smith went through the OOIDA talking points on the bill one at a time on their Radio Talk Show (Jerry, Lois, and I were their guests for the show):

  1. Allen and Donna Smith, truck safety advocates for over ten years, have used their Ask the Trucker social media platform to raise awareness about the underride problem. Thank you, Allen & Donna!
  2. Ask the Trucker blogposts:
    Underride Guard Mandate: A Counterargument to Industry Opposition
    Unknown facts about underride crashes and prevention
  3. Podcast of Ask the Trucker BlogTalkRadio: Underride Protection Act of 2017- Truck RearGuards & SideGuards

On March 16, Senator Gillibrand responded to OOIDA with a letter addressing each of their concerns. Read it for yourself and see what you think is the truth of the matter:

Letter to OOIDA from Senator Gillibrand

 

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 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!

Senator Gillibrand Directs Pointed Questions on Underride to Federal Highway Administration Nominee

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Senator Gillibrand asked Paul Trombino — in his nomination hearing for the position of Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) — some pointed questions about the underride problem. Her questions to him included asking whether he was aware that the IIHS had successfully crash tested a side guard at 40 mph in August and whether he would commit to studying the issue and responding to her within three months if he was appointed to that position.

Go, Senator Gillibrand! Thank you for drawing attention to this and asking for tangible action.

 

“Powerful Senator joins calls for stronger semi-trailer underride guard laws”

Truck Safety, , , ,

WUSA9 reports that Senator Schumer has joined our call for stronger underride laws.

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA9) – Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, (D-N.Y.) is launching a major effort to improve critical safety features on semi-trailers that could save hundreds of lives on U.S. highways.

The WUSA9 Special Assignment Unit has reported on the issue for weeks.

On Friday, Sen. Schumer called on the federal government to update and upgrade safety standards by requiring trucks be equipped with energy-absorbing rear underride guards.

Schumer is also calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require trucks be equipped with side underride guards. He also asks for new research into front underride guard standards. . . 

Watch their news report here: Powerful Senator joins calls for stronger semi-trailer underride guard laws

After learning of yet another terrible side underride tragedy earlier this month in New York, we reached out to NY legislators asking them to support this cause.

How sad it is that it takes tragedies like these to bring about change. How hopeful I am that we are moving quickly to seeing comprehensive underride protection become a reality. Let’s do this!