Tag Archives: TTMA

$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

“A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw”; Industry Discussed Underride Rules in 2000

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This week, I discovered a U.S. News & World Report article, published on October 2, 2000, entitled, “A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw.” I find it enlightening that the trailer manufacturers conceded twenty-two years ago, “underride guards can save lives.” They further admitted that if they had some guidance on technical specifications from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), then they could add side guards to trailers. But the manufacturers were unwilling to spend money doing so unless they were required to install them.

How many lives could have been saved if the U.S. Department of Transportation had acted decisively at that time and initiated side guard rulemaking? Perhaps more to the point, I’d like to know if Secretary Buttigieg will act boldly now to end these senseless, preventable deaths by determining that a side guard regulation is warranted?

Back of the Envelope Math: How many side underride deaths since March 19, 1969?

Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force

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On a Friday afternoon — February 26, 2021 — over 50 people met via Zoom to discuss comprehensive underride protection. The purpose of the meeting was to report on progress which has been made by several subcommittees since an earlier meeting in 2020 — including Industry Engagement, Research, and Engineering Subcommittees.

The goal of the Underride Engineering Subcommittee — to which trailer manufacturers were invited — was to create a Consensus Side Guard Standard which would provide additional insight for the development of a side guard regulation. Lengthy conversation and exchange of information has led this group to submit the following recommendation:

A side underride guard shall be considered to meet the performance standard if it is able to provide vehicle crash compatibility with a midsize car, to prevent intrusion into the occupant survival space, when it is struck at any location, at any angle, and at any speed up to and including 40 mph.

The Task Force went so far as to suggest that the Truck Trailers Manufacturers Association (TTMA) discuss the Consensus Side Guard Standard at their upcoming annual meeting in San Antonio, April 7-10, 2021. We encouraged them to come together in a Joint Agreement to adopt or improve the Consensus Side Guard Standard, as an association, and fast track the manufacturing of side guards by their 80th Anniversary in 2022.

Accept the standard; build a guard.

IIHS successful 40 mph AngelWing side guard crash test, 8/29/17
Zoom Video Recording of the Side Guard Task Force Meeting on February 26, 2021
NOTE: The meeting begins at around 7:00 minutes into the video.

Sean O’Malley, Senior Test Coordinator at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), gave a presentation at the Side Guard Task Force. He stated that, “Everything we do here, we do to save lives. I wasn’t kidding when I said the rear underride program (ToughGuard) is what I’m most proud of. ” Trailer manufacturers responded to the IIHS creation of a safety marketplace for improved rear underride guards by working to meet the TOUGHGuard Award level of protection at the rear of tractor-trailers. Why then would they not do the same to meet the Consensus Side Guard Standard of protection at the sides of tractor-trailers — particularly since the IIHS supports it with their 40 m.p.h. test?

Underride is underride no matter with what part of the truck you collide — because the bottom of large trucks sit up higher from the ground than the bumpers of passenger vehicles. All the way around.

So now what do we do? Will we wait another 100 years? How many more lives will be sacrificed?

This compelling video will show you why Death By Underride, though unnatural & preventable, still continues.

Trucking companies could demand trailers with side underride guards. Trailer manufacturers could supply trailers with side underride guards. Or the government could mandate side underride guards — ideally with the support of industry because a government law or regulation will place all manufacturers on a level playing field.

Families of underride victims and engineers appealed to trailer manufacturers to take the bull by the horn, embrace the Consensus Side Guard Standard, and move forward with developing and installing side underride guards ahead of government requirements.

Today, I was reflecting on the Side Guard Task Force meeting and a strategy for action going forward. As I was looking up information on an engineer from one of the manufacturers, whom I’d met several years ago, I noticed that the manufacturer is making plans to hire an engineering intern for the Summer of 2021. Beautiful! Brilliant! How about we show this young intern how engineers can save lives.

Imagine engineering students from universities around the nation spending the coming year doing internships or senior capstone projects at trailer manufacturing companies working alongside industry engineers on side underride guard development. Collaboration could take place and serve to more rapidly bring about the development and implementation of long-overdue, life-saving technology.

MEETING RESOURCES:

Note: The Side Guard Task Force meeting on February 26, 2021, was a follow-up to an earlier meeting. On April 17, 2020, over 40 people participated in a virtual meeting of a volunteer Underride Protection Committee’s “Side Guard Task Force.” This included two engineers from trailer manufacturers. As a follow-up, several subcommittees began to hold virtual meetings, including an Underride Engineering Subcommittee.

After listening to Andy Young interview Eric Hein about the loss of his son, Riley, in a side underride, participants viewed a photo memorial slideshow of some of the countless underride victims:

Underride Victim Photo Memorial – The Tip of the Iceberg

Some of the many individuals and organizations who have made contributions to the work on underride protection were celebrated in this Underride Hero Hall of Fame video:

Underride Hero Hall of Fame

Note: the video of the complete meeting is an unedited Zoom recording. As excerpts from the agenda are created, Youtube video links will be added.

Utility Trailers Encourages Retrofit of Rear Impact Guards To Prevent Underride

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Last evening, I received some amazing news! Utility Trailer Manufacturing has announced that their improved Rear Impact Guard (RIG) will be offered at a discount.

Utility “is pleased to announce its dry vans, refrigerated vans and flatbeds produced after 2002 can be retrofitted with Utility’s standard 7” deep horizontal Interstate Commerce Commission (I.C.C.) bumper. . .

“Utility strongly recommends their 7” deep horizontal bumper for horizontal bumper replacement on new or older Utility trailer models that were built after 2002 in order to exceed all rear trailer guard safety regulations. Utility will discount the new bumpers as an incentive to replace the old bumpers with the new upgraded 7” deep bumper. . .

“. . .is also I.I.H.S. certified and TUFF Guard awarded. TUFF Guard awards trailers with guards that prevent underride in all three of the institute’s rear underride tests . . . Utility Implements Standard 7’’ Rear Impact Guard on All Trailer Models

We are hopeful that this bold move will pave the way for all trailer manufacturers to follow suit. These retrofit kits will be available to replace not only damaged RIGs but the RIGs on millions of trailers on the road today which have rear underride guards which are TOO WEAK to stop underride all across the back of the trailer.

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

This just goes to show you that, by working together, we can STOP underrides. I’m hoping that 2021 will bring significant progress in underride protection!

“As a. . . result of Utility Trailer’s negligence. . . Riley Hein LOST A CHANCE AT A BETTER OUTCOME”

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According to a WUSA9 Investigative Report on Underride, court documents show, “As a direct, legal, and proximate result of Utility Trailer’s negligence, Plaintiffs’ decedent Riley Hein LOST A CHANCE AT A BETTER OUTCOME when instead of simply colliding with the semitrailer, his car became trapped underneath the semitrailer, resulting in a fire and directly leading to his death.”

That’s what the #STOPunderrides Bill is all about!  If passed, this legislation will give motorists and vulnerable road users A CHANCE AT A BETTER OUTCOME when they have the misfortune of colliding with a truck. Effective underride protection will prevent underride and enable the car’s crashworthy safety features, like the crumple zone, airbags, and seat belt tensioners, to do their job and protect the car’s occupants from deadly injuries.

This includes not only SIDE underrides but also those collisions that occur at the FRONT and the REAR of trucks. A few weeks ago, I obtained a FARS data report from NHTSA (DOT) for “reported” underride deaths during 1994-2017. It clearly shows that the number of reported underride deaths did not significantly decrease after a federal standard for rear underride guards was implemented in 1998.

NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS): Underride Deaths, 1994-2017

Apparently, neither NHTSA nor the trucking industry bothered to make it a priority to look at those statistics and ask some hard but important questions, “Why are people continuing to die under trucks?” and “What can we do about it?”

In fact, just the opposite apparently occurred as evidenced by court documents which reveal that the trucking industry deliberately acted to protect themselves from being forced to add underride protection to their trucks. The TTMA (Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association) did not do this alone; the ATA (American Trucking Associations) played their part as well.

The question is: Where do we go from here? Congress, I’d say that the ball is definitely in your court.

Congress, it’s time to act: Industry has proven they will not act voluntarily to protect vulnerable motorists from underride.

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As I read a report of the recent jury decision on the lawsuit against the trailer manufacturer under whose trailer Riley Hein burned to death, I paid close attention to the comments made by the defense attorney. Apparently he did not pay close attention to the testimonies given by expert witnesses whom he had opportunity to cross-examine.

Jeff Croasdell, attorney for the manufacturing company, called Riley Hein’s death a terrible tragedy, but he said the jury had found the trailer involved in the incident was not defective so the company was reaching out to jurors to determine the basis for their decision.

Croasdell speculated the jury might have thought the company should have installed side underride guards on the trailer, but he said no such devices are currently on the market. Family awarded $42M in I-40 crash that killed teen driver

Hold on! His statement is totally not true. The AngelWing side guards have been available from Perry Ponder since 2012. Here is a video of an August 2017 AngelWing installation on an Ohio transport company trailer: Side Guards Save Lives; AngelWing Installation.

Another transport company recently posted about their installation of AngelWing side guards:

Of course, maybe the attorney is referring to the fact that none of the trailer manufacturers have a side guard “on the market” — despite the fact that DOT encouraged them to do so in 1970 (Exhibit 7 – 1970 gov’t req. for industry to develop side underride guards).

The Utility Trailer Manufacturer (UTM) lawyer was also quoted as saying, 

“In terms of a product that works, nobody has come up with something that doesn’t make the trailer more dangerous,” he said.

I’m not sure what he considers more dangerous than leaving motorists vulnerable to riding under trucks and having the truck shatter their heads and torsos — or put them at risk of a fiery death. The article does not give a clue as to his speculation in that regard, although I have previously responded to the industry’s stated concerns about side guards.

Another article, gives us a closer look at the attorney’s perspective:

 . . . two weeks of maddening arguments for and against side underride guards and the gruesome, painful details of how Riley died, screaming for help. . .

So gruesome was Riley’s death that jurors were told they did not have to look at photos of his charred remains.

A phalanx of attorneys for the California-based UTM, led by Jeffrey Croasdell, argued that side underride guards, which are not required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are ineffective, problematic, cost-prohibitive and unnecessary.

Moreover, he opined, a semitrailer fitted with such guards is even more dangerous than one without.

“You can’t force Utility to put a dangerous item on its trailers,” he said.  Parents hope verdict ‘a catalyst for change’

Unnecessary? Seriously, did he listen to two weeks of testimony and still make these statements to the reporters? What is he talking about? Did he cover his ears when Riley Hein’s terrible death was described? Did he not see the successful AngelWing crash tests? Would he have the trucking industry do nothing to prevent this unimaginable violence to the human body?

So what does this tell us about the trailer manufacturer’s defense team:

  1. Either he was misquoted by the reporters;
  2. Or he was very misinformed;
  3. Or he was not telling the truth — thereby misleading the public with false statements about a matter of life and death.

Well, I get that a defense attorney is paid to defend and that the trailer manufacturers, in 2004, actually signed a Joint Defense Agreement through the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA) to enable them to “counter these activities and defend these lawsuits effectively.” Over the years, I imagine that company engineers have likely faced the frustration of knowing that an engineering solution could be found but having their hands tied from moving forward with any substantial R&D.

I can’t change the past. But I can challenge the leaders of our federal government to take the bull by the horn and pass the STOP Underrides Act — as is — to give the green light to creative engineers and force the trucking industry to put on comprehensive underride protection (front, side, and rear) which will, at long last, protect vulnerable motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists from horrific underride deaths and injuries.

And if our Congressional leaders do not take this action, what will that say?

 

Heading for DC to Discuss the Need for the Best Possible Underride Protection on All Trucks

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This is why we are working so hard to get better underride protection. This is why I am getting up early tomorrow morning to get on Amtrak headed for DC to meet with DOT and the Senate Commerce Committee. Pray for fruitful meetings.

COMPARE THIS: A real-life underride death prevented by a new rear underride guard: New Stoughton Rear Underride Guard Proven Successful In Real Life Crash; Driver Survives

TO THIS: A real-life rear underride tragedy in a crash into an old, weak, and ineffective rear underride guard: Carroll deputy killed in crash

Within a week’s time, 1 driver survived a crash with a trailer, 1 driver did not.

Seems like a no-brainer to me to require that all of the 15.5 million trucks on the road have the best possible underride protection.

Note: How many trucks are on the road?

 “2016 Top 25 North American Truck-Trailer & Chassis OEMs

Rank

Manufacturer

2016

2015
Totals:

314,966

337,861

http://trailer-bodybuilders.com/trailer-output/2016-trailer-production-figures-table

Side Guard Petition Book Part 1

Side Guard Petition Book Part 2

Side Guard Petition Book Part 3

When is it acceptable to give up the quest to end preventable crash deaths?

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I posted recently about the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association letter to NBC News about their investigative report on side guards in a recent Today Show.

NBC News Updates Article on Today Show Side Underride Report

Here is a comment on that post from a friend, Michelle Novak, who lost her nephew, Chuck Novak, due to a truck crash:

The Truck Trailer Manufacturing Association appears to have been upset over the report by NBC on the lack of under-ride guards on semi trailers in the US–though they are standardized in Europe.

They complain that the ones produced here up to now, are “technical and commercial failures.”

They also include quite the protest as to their political contributions–specifying that they’ve made none–regarding side- and rear-guards. That seems as though they protest too much.

The question Marianne Karth rightly raises: does the fact that there hasn’t been a successful one created yet– by an industry that maintains a lack of financial or political incentive to create one–mean the problem can’t ever be solved?

We all know the answer: and Marianne Karth and her family have been spending a heck of a lot of time and effort bringing together people and ideas to create prototypes which even this association can’t avoid forever.

This shouldn’t be the job of a surviving victim, who was injured in the crash that took two of her daughters.

But the letter from the Trailer Manufacturers should give you an idea of why it’s fallen to a victim who has dedicated her life to creating something very do-able for large corporations.

If they had incentive, that is. And killing people isn’t incentive enough.

If you’d like to help Marianne get this done, and help save pedestrians, babies in strollers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and cars pushed under trailers by other cars, or those who run under for any number of reasons, click on her site. She’s got a lot of great information and updates on the progress on here.  https://www.facebook.com/michellem.novak.7/posts/343570059376617

Note: I recently viewed another crash test and the engineers who worked on the rear guard design mentioned that this successful design was #66 in a series of tries at “getting it right.”

What if they had given up after one, ten, forty, or sixty-five attempts?

NBC News Updates Article on Today Show Side Underride Report

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NBC News received a letter from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association about the Today Show investigative report on Side Underride. After further investigation, NBC News added this to their article on the report:

Update and correction: After the publication of our story, we received a letter from the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA), which argues that our report overstated the simplicity of the side guard fix and that prototypes have been technical and commercial failures. TTMA made the same argument to NHTSA in a letter we referenced in our report, which you can read here. They also told us that TTMA has not made any political donations to lawmakers on the issue of side underrides, including to Senator Thune. In response to other points made by TTMA, we have updated our online report with TTMA’s response that guards in Europe are focused on protecting bicyclists and pedestrians, not automobiles and that NTSB said injuries and deaths “could” be reduced by side guards, instead of “would.” We also have updated campaign finance data, broken out donations from the trucking sector of the transportation industry, and corrected the period during which those donations were made.

I previously wrote about the TTMA’s May 13, 2016 letter to NHTSA about side guards. Read it here.

Despite the TTMA’s objections to the report, the fact remains that almost as many people die from side underride crashes each year as from rear underride crashes. And, furthermore, I have seen with my own eyes the difference that side guards can make in stopping deadly underride.

Will we let the technical and commercial failures of side guard prototypes in the past stop us from keeping at the task of solving this problem? I thank God for people like Aaron Kiefer and Perry Ponder who have kept at it until they successfully proved what human ingenuity could do to save lives.

Note:  In fact, Europe’s side guard standards are designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists — which the U.S. should do, too! But Europe does not require the prevention of cars from underriding trucks. I have been in communication with a global automotive regulation specialist, and I hope that what happens here in the U.S. will have a ripple effect globally.

TTMA Engineering Committee provides rulemaking input at the annual TTMA meeting in July.

Truck Safety,

The Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA) held their annual summer meeting July 26 — 28.

The TTMA Engineering Committee reviewed several key regulatory actions during the TTMA convention.

Among the regulatory items:

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is at work on revisions to its rear underride guard regulations. Engineering Committee provide rulemaking input

I look forward to hearing more about the TTMA Annual Summer Meeting.

Trip North May 2015 044