Tell me again why we are letting the flawed data on underride deaths determine the Cost Benefit Analysis — and thus the decision on underride regulations. We already knew the FARS data was underreported; we just discovered additional disturbing evidence of that fact.

At the end of August, I obtained the FARS field dump data for the Joshua Brown Tesla deadly crash in Florida when his car went completely under the side of a tractor trailer and out the other side on May 7, 2016. In the field which has to be filled out related to underride, it is listed as “No Underride or Override Noted.”

What?! Imagine that! A clear-cut, well-known side underride crash — investigated by the NTSB — and NHTSA got it wrong. In 2016.

You can see it for yourself in this pdf, p. 10:

FLORIDA_2016_FARS_CASE_120918 (1)

And that’s not the only one I received. I also requested the FARS data on Roya Sadigh’s crash (daughter of Lois Durso) on November 24, 2004 — one that we know is a side underride with clear evidence of Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). Again, “No Underride/Override.” See p.3:

INDIANA_2004_FARS_CASE_180748 (1)

We had already received FARS data on our own crash on May 4, 2013. It says “Passenger Compartment Intrusion Unknown.” And the Georgia FARS report for 2013 at the Rear of trailers lists one underride — despite two daughters having died under the truck.

In response to a request for explanation of a recent withdrawal of the underride rulemaking for Single Unit Trucks, Senator Gillibrand received a letter from NHTSA in August explaining that they had used TIFA (trucks in fatal accidents) data rather than FARS data. However, upon closer examination one will discover that the TIFA data is based upon the FARS data. How reliable is that?

UPDATE, February 11, 2023: The Joshua Brown crash has been updated in the FARS data to indicate that it was an Underride with Passenger Compartment Intrusion.