Tag Archives: underride crash tests

Update on Underride News

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , ,

A quick look at important information on our effort to STOP underride tragedies:

  1. STOP Underrides! Petition can be found here.
  2. Raleigh News&Observer reporter covers underride in-depth: Moms want Congress to prevent the kind of truck crashes that killed their daughters
  3. Matt Brumbelow, IIHS research engineer, discusses deadly side underride & why trucking companies should want to install side underride guards. soundcloud.com/1070wina/matth
  4. Participate in the upcoming Side Guard Task Force meeting via Zoom on April 17. RSVP
  5. Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test
  6. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
  7. What would we do differently if we approached truck underride tragedies as a PUBLIC HEALTH issue rather than simply a TRANSPORTATION issue? Advocating for Transportation Safety: Solving a Major Public Health Problem Is a ‘Winnable Battle’
  8. A compilation of numerous Underride Guard PATENTS
  9. Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020In 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.   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). . . includes crash test videos.
  10. Wabash Engineer Left a Valuable Legacy: A Side Underride Guard Patent
  11. What have we been waiting for since March 19, 1969? A law to prevent people from dying under the side of trucks.
  12. “Her sisters died in a crash on the way to her wedding. Now she fights for safer highways.”
  13. Congressman Price Questions Secretary Chao About DOT’s Plan To Address GAO Truck Underride Recommendations
  14. An Exhaustive Look at Truck Underride: “Moms want Congress to prevent the kind of truck crashes that killed their daughters”, Raleigh News&Observer, February 2020
  15. Operational Issues with AngelWing Side Guard
  16. True Stories Well Told recently published this all too true tale of AnnaLeah. . .AnnaLeah was a particularly avid reader with a colorful imagination. She had a myriad ideas written down on random pieces of paper tucked into drawers, filling notebooks, or emailed to herself. She had, in fact, already created in her own mind numerous literary worlds peopled by characters with names and personalities. . .Read more here: https://truestorieswelltold.com/2019/12/18/annaleahs-too-true-story/
  17. Baltimore Sun:  Trucks must install underride guards or more lives will be lost – Baltimore Sun Letter to the Editor, 12/26/19
  18. We Have Never Before Had a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman:
    Read more here.
  19. Dispelling Common Misconceptions About Underride Protection It’s time to provide the documentation to counteract unfounded fallacies and speculations about underride protection. Read more here.
  20. On September 3, 1969, Congress discussed UNDERRIDE but did not act. U.S. Congressman Vanik from Ohio was given the floor. He made a lengthy statement, with noteworthy comments about underride protection, including the inadequacy of the proposed regulation for rear underride and the absence of regulations for smaller straight trucks, as well as protection on the sides and front of trucks. How many more people will die before Congress lays down the law? Read more here.
  21. Jury Verdict $42 million in Riley Hein Side Underride Case: Found the Trailer Manufacturer Negligent In August, a New Mexico jury found a trailer manufacturer “negligent”  in a side underride fatality. “The family hopes the verdict ‘sends a message’ to the truck-trailer industry to take measures to prevent underride crashes.” Read more here.
  22. NTSB Published a Preliminary Report on the March 2019 Tesla Side Underride Fatal Crash The National Transportation Safety Board, on May 16, 2019, released a Preliminary Report on the March 1, 2019, Tesla side underride fatal crash. Read it here: Highway Preliminary Report: HWY19FH008 Read more here.
  23. Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event If you were not able to witness the Underride Crash Tests in D.C. in person on March 26, then the next best thing is to see the media coverage of this important event and to view the video footage of all three tests of a car colliding at approximately 30 mph with the side of a tractor-trailer. . . Read more here.
  24. Video of the Underride Panel Discussion at the D.C. Underride Crash Test Event, March 26, 2019 Safety engineers and professionals share their knowledge and thoughts in a Panel Discussion on the underride issue at the D.C. Underride Crash Test Event on March 26, 2019. . . Read more here.
  25. Ask The Trucker “LIVE” w/Allen Smith: The Stop Underrides Act- Requiring front, side & rear underguards Allen and Donna Smith, trucker advocates, host the Ask the Trucker Radio Talk Show. Underride was discussed on the show in March 2018 and again on April, 27, 2019. We appreciate their open mind and willingness to draw attention to this issue and foster open and honest conversation with truck drivers. Listen in here:The Stop Underride Act- Requiring front, side & rear underguards on large trucks Read more here.
  26. As a trucking company owner, executive, or driver, what keeps you awake at night? One of the presenters at a recent NTSB webinar, “Collision Avoidance Technologies – Why You Need Them in Your Trucks Today!”, was Robert Maag, the VP of Operations for a small trucking company, Perfect Transportation. He had some wise advice for trucking companies related to investment in safety for a fleet:Investment in the front end can be extremely minimal in proportion to what could be at risk at the back end. . . Read more here .
  27. “Words without facts” is Propaganda “There is no trucker who would want to be a part of a tragic under-ride crash and there is no just-lawmaker who would feel content with having the opportunity to do something and remain silent and out of the conversation.”That’s what I read in a recent blogpost. If only the trucking industry would recognize that fact, re-examine some of their wrong-headed thinking, and get behind the win/win STOP Underrides! Bill.I’d like to take a stab at correcting some of the misunderstanding floating around out there about the STOP Underrides! Bill. I’m concerned that “words without facts,” if left unchallenged, is propaganda with power to confuse the uninformed. . . Read more here.
  28. It’s going to take an act of Congress to end underride once and for all. Congress needs to wake up and understand that NHTSA has not responded to underride safety recommendations or petitions from NTSB or IIHS for decades. More recommendations from the GAO is not likely to do the trick. We have three branches of government for a reason, and part of the role of Congress is to say: do this or do that. . . Read more here.
  29. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Truck Underride Report Published After a Year-Long Investigation After the STOP Underrides Bill was first introduced on December 12, 2017, several members of Congress –Senators Thune, Rubio, Burr, and Gillibrand — requested that the Government Accountability Office prepare a report on truck underride guards. That report was published today and can be found here. The online report is organized into sections, including Fast Facts, Highlights, and Recommendations. The GAO Recommendations are. . . Read more (including Karth Cliff Notes on the GAO Truck Underride Report) here.
  30. How you can help us STOP underride deaths & injuries: Sign & Share our Petition to tell Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride! Find it here. Call &/or email your U.S. legislators. Ask them to co-sponsor and pass the STOP Underrides! Act (Senate Bill S.665 and House Bill HR.1511). Find their information here.
  31. Overlooked Vulnerabilities in Truck Crashes: Damage to Steering Mechanism & Fuel Tank Being a passionate advocate for making truck crashes more survivable, I signed up for Google Alerts on truck crashes. Every night I get an email notifying me of truck crashes across the country. Mostly I look for evidence of underride. But I have noticed the frequency of truck crashes that involve fire. Why is that? Read more here .
  32. “It’s a crossroad. Are we going to let more people continue to die or act decisively to save lives?” WRAL Raleigh, April 10, 2019
    By Rick Armstrong, producer, and Kathryn Brown, anchor/reporter    ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — A mother is warning all drivers to keep a safe distance from large trucks on roads and highways after a tragic crash in Georgia caused her car to go underneath a truck — leading to the deaths of her two daughters. Read more here.
  33. Compelling Documentary Tells the Stories of Underride Victims: Save Lives – STOP Underrides! We are thankful to Cool Breeze Studio for creating this recently-released underride documentary — telling the stories of underride victims to shed light on this preventable problem. . . See it here.
  34. Back-of-the-Envelope Math for Underride Protection Retrofit Cost/Trailer Equation Let’s do some simple back-of-the-envelope math. How much would it cost to retrofit a trailer? The current estimated cost would be. . . So, for $0.62 per day, the trailer owner has the following benefits. . . Read more here .
  35. A Mom’s Response to the OOIDA Letter of Opposition to the Life-preserving #STOPUnderrides! Bill The STOP Underrides! Bill was re-introduced into Congress on March 5, 2019. On March 7, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association wrote a letter of opposition and sent it to the bill’s sponsors.The following is a combination of the OOIDA letter (bolded) and my response. . .   Find it here.

Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event

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

If you were not able to witness the Underride Crash Tests in D.C. in person on March 26, then the next best thing is to see the media coverage of this important event and to view the video footage of all three tests of a car colliding at approximately 30 mph with the side of a tractor-trailer:

  1. The first crash test was into a trailer with an AngelWing side guard — SUCCESSFUL because it prevented underride and Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI).
  2. The second crash test was into a trailer with a SafetySkirt side guard — SUCCESSFUL because it prevented underride and Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI).
  3. The third crash test was into a trailer with NO side guard (as is the situation with 99.9% of the trucks on the road today) — SUCCESSFUL in that the devastating underride which occurred clearly showed what it is that the other two tests so importantly prevented.

VIDEO FOOTAGE from MGA Research of all three crash tests can be seen here:

First test into AngelWing:

Second test into SafetySkirt:

Third test with NO side underride protection:

Compilation of all three crash tests, including aerial views & views from inside the car:

Here is some of the media coverage of the D.C. Underride Crash Test Event:

MGA Research brought their high speed cameras to capture this video footage. Links to additional video will be shared when their creative team completes their work. WUSA9 had a GoPro camera inside the crash car.

Video of the Underride Panel discussion at the event can be viewed here.

  • David Friedman, Consumer Reports, VP, Advocacy, formerly the CR Director of Cars and Product Policy and Analysis, former NHTSA Acting Administrator
  • Malcolm Deighton, engineer with Hydro, which supplies aluminum for manufacturing underride protective devices and trailer parts and which produces comprehensive underride protection technology in Europe
  • Glen Berry, Safety Director for Thomas Transport Delivery, AngelWing installed since 2017, truck driver
  • Perry Ponder, inventor of AngelWing, engineer with an accident reconstruction engineering company
  • David Dorrity, worked for Stevens Transport for years and testifies all over the country on safe trucking practices.
  • Aaron Kiefer, forensic engineer & crash reconstructionist, inventor of SafetySkirt

Unsung hero of the event: Last year, on May 15, 2018 (what would have been the day my daughter AnnaLeah turned 24), after a hard day of hitting our heads against the wall in trying to convince legislative staffers to move the STOP Underrides! Act forward, I texted my son and said, “How are we going to get them to move?!” He texted back, “Hold a crash test at a field hearing.” I said, “What?!” It was a brilliant idea to let the leaders of this country, who can take action to end these preventable tragedies, witness crash testing in person!

Well, we couldn’t bring about a Field Hearing, but we quickly began the overwhelming process of organizing an Underride Crash Test Event right there in D.C.  — less than 2 miles from The Hill and 1 mile from the Department of Transportation.

Lois Durso and I, along with our families, friends and other underride victim families, want to thank the multitude of individuals, organizations, and companies (both named & unnamed) who have helped us as we work to pass the STOP Underrides! Act (S.665 & HR.1511) and bring about this amazing and totally volunteer-organized event:

Contributors to the STOP Underrides Initiative

Contributors to STOP Underrides! & DC Underride Crash Test

And I want to especially thank the skilled and dedicated Team Underride Crash Test Crew:

We also want to thank Akridge and ImPark for allowing us to use their D.C. parking lot (not an easy thing to find!), Northern Neck Auto Parts for providing the crash cars, and Sunbelt Rentals for providing safety barriers and equipment helpful in moving around the many vehicles to make the three crash tests go smoothly in such a short space of time. MGA Research captured amazing video footage, Mister Video ran the sound system, Andy Young served seamlessly as MC,  and Aaron Kiefer masterfully orchestrated the crash test crew in order to help us all see the clear-cut life & death difference which underride protection can make.

AngelWing crash car: 

SafetySkirt crash car: 

Unguarded crash car: 

We hope that this event will continue to raise awareness and that our message to Congress will grow stronger as people sign & share this petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

This event was brought about in memory of countless underride victims and in hopes of helping countless others walk away from truck crashes and live to tell about it. . .

Lawmaker first to publicly back truck underride bill written by grieving moms

Truck Safety, , , , ,

Thank you, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, for your strong commitment to ending truck underride tragedies.

Crash reconstructionist (inventor of an innovative side guard) tallies side underride crashes he has seen

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

Aaron Kiefer has designed an innovative combination side/rear underride guard for large trucks. Recently, he tallied up the number of side underride crashes which his crash reconstruction firm has investigated.

This is what he found:

-39 passenger vehicle/commercial vehicle underride accidents in 2014, 2015, 2016 YTD (16 average annual cases*) *Approx 90% of cases were sampled

-26 side, 13 rear

-19 into dry van trailers, (13 side, 6 rear)

-10 into flatbed trailers

-10 into other trailer types/other commercial vehicles

See one of his side guard crash tests:

Here’s my report on the first crash test of Aaron’s side guard prototype on March 13, 2016: Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

Side Guard Crash Test #3: Successful Prevention of Truck Underride Once Again!

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , ,

This Saturday morning found us helping out at Aaron Kiefer’s third crash test of his side guard prototype. We managed to complete two crash tests–both successful with no Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). People in the car would probably have survived.

  1. The first crash resulted in the car bouncing back with no part of the vehicle going under the truck. We concluded that the car being in neutral allowed it to be sent backward after the collision. If the car had been in gear, then it probably would not have done that. Because the hood was bent, we took off the broken front bumper to get the hood up in order to charge the battery on the car to prepare it for the second test.
  2. The second crash still had no PCI but the side guard tore at two points–quite likely from sharp parts of the car where the bumper had been taken off. Because the guard tore, it allowed the car to go under the truck up to the point of the A-pillar–although still leaving the passenger compartment totally intact.

Another successful crash test day with promising results for future underride protection which can be manufactured for trailers and single unit trucks. Aaron envisions kits for retrofitting existing trucks, at around 200 pounds for maybe $1,000/truck.

The biggest failing of the day was my crash test video on the first crash; I held my camera at the wrong angle so you’ll have to tip your head to view it properly (audio also seemed to be muted at some points). Thankfully, my bloopers had no impact on the success of the underride prevention technology!

Photo Album from the Crash Test Day:  https://www.facebook.com/AnnaLeahandMaryforTruckSafety/posts/15529895183376422

Here is a video of the preparation and aftermath analysis:

Side Guard Crash Test May 2016 030 Side Guard Crash Test May 2016 018

Previous crash testing of Aaron Kiefer’s side guard prototype (March and April 2016: Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

Other Research Which Should Not Be Ignored in Current Underride Rulemaking

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

NHTSA, in the Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation of the NPRM issued in December 2015 for Rear Underride on Trailers, requested information about underride guard crash tests at higher speeds (than the 35 mph currently being proposed). This is what they said,

We recognize, however, that benefits may accrue from underride crashes at speeds higher than 56 km/h (35 mph), if, e.g., a vehicle’s guard exceeded the minimum performance requirements of the FMVSS. NHTSA requests information that would assist the agency in quantifying the possible benefits of CMVSS No. 223 rear impact guards in crashes with speeds higher than 56 km/h (35 mph) . See: NPRM Rear Impact Guards, Rear Impact Protection December 2015 document; A Summary of Some of the Highlights

Here are some additional links to underride research around the world which should be taken into consideration when developing improved underride designs and standards.

  1. Evaluation of Energy Absorbing Pliers Underride Guards for Rear and Sides of Large Trucks
  2. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW UNDERRIDE GUARDS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN TRUCKS AND CARS
  3. NHTSA NCAP #00248 Truck Underride Guard (Quinton Hazell Guard)

These links supplement the more lengthy list of underride research, which I posted previously here: Underride Roundtable To Consider Underride Research From Around the Globe.

Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , ,

We have been following the progress of Aaron Kiefer’s development of an innovative side/rear underride guard, which he has designed on his own time when not working as a crash reconstructionist or spending time with his family. So we eagerly welcomed his invitation to help out in his MacGyver-style crash test this past Saturday. (By the way, I am a big fan of MacGyver–watched every episode on DVD with Mary & AnnaLeah.)

Aaron wanted to take this opportunity to test his design and find out what changes might be needed to make it a marketable and affordable option for trailer owners to install as a retrofit safety improvement. We joined a crew of his family, friends, and fellow crash reconstructionists at a junkyard in the Triangle area.

The morning was for set-up. Then we took a break for some brats and chips before devoting the afternoon to three crash tests. I had been unsure before arriving as to how a pick-up could tow a car and make it crash into a trailer. It became clear to me when I saw Aaron’s pulley contraption.

Crash Test Tow Set-Up

Test 1 was a side crash. The collision of the car into the side guard caused the innovative side guard to pop off its brace. But, as Aaron and Jerry said, the test was successful because the side guard stopped the car from going under the trailer beyond the windshield; it prevented Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI). People in the car could have walked away alive.

Test 2 was a second side guard crash with the same car. Again, the car did not go under past the windshield and there was no PCI. The guard would have protected the people in the car from death and/or severe injuries. This time the added aluminum brace at the rear sheared off. Aaron thinks that he will have to go back to the drawing board and make a stronger brace.

Test 3 was a rear crash test. This time the side guard got rolled up and set aside. The trailer was turned around and the test car set up to aim at the rear of the trailer. The original rear underride guard on the trailer had actually been damaged at some point in the past and only had four of its original eight bolts. (That was the condition the underride guard was in when Aaron purchased the trailer, which had sustained damage from collision with an overpass. The guard had clearly not been properly maintained.)

In this crash, the underride guard failed and the car rode under the trailer. There was PCI and, if there had been people in the car, they would not have escaped unharmed. The added brace on the outer edge did not hold up. In fact, it was still fastened on (come to think of it, as it took a lot of work to unfasten it from the trailer afterward), but the original underride guard popped entirely off and flew to the side — doing nothing to stop the car from going under the truck.

Aaron had actually aimed the car to hit the left outer edge of the trailer, which he had reinforced with some aluminum braces. (Note: The current federal standard, as well as the proposed improved rule, does not require this area of the trailer to be protected against underride.) Instead, the car hit the vertical bar of the guard; the entire original guard then popped off and the car went under the truck.

It’s back to the drawing board for Aaron to find a way to improve his design. It was definitely a great success in that it prevented deadly side underride. On top of that, the trailer was not damaged by the collision (except for a few little nicks). But the bracing needs to be made stronger.

From what I could see, the day’s events only served to strengthen Aaron’s resolve to put a stop to senseless deaths, which he sees all-too-often in his work. I for one am truly thankful for the wonderful work he is doing, along with the group of people who willingly set aside a Saturday to support his effort.

Photo Album of the Day’s Events

The day gave me a deeper appreciation for all who take the time to solve the problem of preventable traffic fatalities. This includes the Virginia Tech Senior Design Team and Wabash and Manac and many researchers for decades, such as George Rechnitzer and Raphael Grzebieta in Australia and Luís Otto Faber Schmutzler in Brazil, and countless other un-named individuals.

It was also personally very intense. As one participant commented, “That was violent!”

Indeed, it was very violent. All three crashes gave me a jolt. But after the third crash, which resulted in deadly underride, I found myself standing still in the aftermath. Others were busy finding tasks to measure the results and get the clean-up started–including getting the car unstuck from under the trailer. But all I could do was stand there and stare.

Not until the next day really did it all begin to sink in: how I had witnessed from observing from afar what I and my children had gone through ourselves (although with a different crash scenario). I had watched, as an onlooker, the instantaneous destruction of a vehicle and how it was that AnnaLeah’s life had been inconceivably snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye and how, in a matter of mere seconds, Mary’s body had been broken beyond repair by just such a tragically-unresolved traffic safety problem.

It seemed like my own body experienced whiplash as it tensed up and relived, through traumatic muscle memory, what I had gone through. Meanwhile my heart continues to break with the grief that knows no end even as I process this experience.

It is beyond my comprehension how we, in this country, can allow such things to occur year after year without moving heaven and earth to learn how to prevent these tragedies. I can only ask forgiveness, and apologize to the countless families who have lost loved ones through violent death by motor vehicle, for letting them down–for not addressing it as the priority it should be. As a society, we have dropped the ball.

This is why I continue to push for President Obama to set a Vision Zero National Goal and strategies to reach that goal–including Vision Zero Community Action Groups. This is why I am looking forward to the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016, and why we continue to ask for donations to AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety to support underride research and the effort to improve underride protection on trucks and trailers.

Jerry said several times, “It’s not every day you get to see a dream become a reality–kind of a humbling experience actually.” May there be many more such days.

2

Third Crash Test: Side Guard Crash Test #3: Successful Prevention of Truck Underride Once Again!