If a picture is worth a thousand words, an underride crash test video is worth at least a million. Nothing is more convincing of the fact that underride protection can mean the difference between life and death. Well, nothing except viewing a crash test in person.
To that end, here is a sample of crash test videos which serve to document the technical effectiveness of underride protective devices — more startling when juxtaposed against crash tests with no underride protection or too-weak designs.
In case you need a reminder, these crash tests are not conducted merely to satisfy curiosity, but in an effort to bring an end to ongoing preventable, unimaginable underride tragedies.
So, you ask, what are Truck Impact Guards? To borrow from NHTSA terminology, Rear Impact Guards are devices attached to Commercial Motor Vehicles in order to GUARD against deadly underride and intrusion into the occupant survival space of a passenger vehicle when there is a collision or IMPACT [an impinging or striking especially of one body against another, Merriam Webster] at the REAR of a large truck.
Although NHTSA does not yet require them, a Side Impact Guard is, likewise, a device attached to a large truck to GUARD against deadly underride and intrusion into the occupant survival space of a passenger vehicle when there is a collision or IMPACT at the SIDE of a large truck.
Thus, it stands to reason, even though NHTSA apparently has no plans at present to require this life-saving device, a Front Impact Guard is a device attached to a large truck to GUARD against deadly underride and intrusion into the occupant survival space of a passenger vehicle when there is a collision or IMPACT at the FRONT of a large truck.
Truck Impact Guards do not prevent crashes. But, they do compensate for the lack of crash compatibility, which exists due to the geometric mismatch between the “bumpers” of two colliding vehicles that allows one to slide UNDER the other. Effective impact guards ensure that the passenger vehicle’s crashworthiness features — air bags, crumple zones, bumpers, seat belt tensioners — operate as intended to preserve the occupant survival space. This improved crash compatibility can, therefore, serve to make truck crashes more survivable.
These engineer-designed devices can also GUARD Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) — pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists — reducing the likelihood of catastrophic injuries during collisions with large trucks.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced the next four meetings of the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP):
February 8, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Rear Underride
March 13, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Side Underride
April 24, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Front Override
May 22, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET; Topic: Underride Data
February 8 will be the third public meeting of the committee, which was established to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on safety regulations to reduce underride crashes and fatalities relating to underride crashes.
We have just gone over a hurdle–a very important hurdle which has set the ball rolling in the pursuit of improved standards for more effective, life-saving underride guards.
But I am reminded of what the track & field event called The Hurdles is really like. Webster’s defines hurdle like this:
” :one of a series of barriers to be jumped over in a race
the hurdles : a race in which runners must jump over hurdles
I ran the hurdles when I was in high school. I have a scar on my knee from the cinder track to prove it (now lost amid the scars from the truck crash). What we have to remember is that going over one hurdle is not enough. Once you have successfully gone over one, you have to keep in rhythm and go after the next, and the next, and…always keeping focused on staying the course until the end.
This is what the Federal Register posting says at the end: “The agency notes that its granting of the petition submitted by Ms. Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition does not prejudge the outcome of the rulemaking or necessarily mean that a final rule will be issued. The determination of whether to issue a rule will be made after study of the requested action and the various alternatives in the course of the rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria.” https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/10/2014-16018/federal-motor-vehicle-safety-standards-rear-impact-guards-rear-impact-protection
