Tag Archives: underride protection

When it comes to underride, where do you stand?

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When it comes to underride, as far as I can tell, there are at least four groups of people:

  • People unaware of underride.
  • People aware of underride who are taking action to try and end it or are supportive of efforts to do so.
  • People aware of underride who might want to act but whose hands are tied so they look the other way.
  • People aware of underride who are actively opposing solutions.

What group are you in? Are you comfortable with where you’re at?

Jury Found Trailer Manufacturer Negligent In Side Underride Death

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A New Mexico jury found a trailer manufacturer “negligent” yesterday 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.

Everyone, please call Congress at this D.C. phone no. and ask for your U.S. Senators and Representatives. When you get transferred to their office, simply tell the staffer that you want their boss to cosponsor the STOP Underrides Bill (S.665 and HR.1511): (202) 224-3121.

Thank you, Eric Hein and family. Thinking of you and all underride victims. Precious ones gone too soon. Never forgotten. 

#STOPunderrides Enough is enough!

As a trucking company owner, executive, or driver, what keeps you awake at night?

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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.

Then he asked, As a business owner or executive, what keeps you awake at night?

 

From his perspective, investing in fleet safety is business commonsense. I couldn’t have said it better myself: Investing in underride protection is in the best interest of the trucking industry and an appropriate cost of doing business.

Win/Win.

Do truck crashes inevitably turn out badly? Or could underride protection change the outcome? Well?

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Highways & Transit Subcommittee held a hearing this morning entitled, “Every Life Counts: Improving Safety on our Nation’s Roadways.” A question was asked about Commercial Truck Safety. Note the comment made here which reflects the commonly-held belief that it is inevitable that a large truck will win out in any collision with a smaller entity.

Would Congress pass the STOP Underrides Act if they realized that truck crashes could become more survivable with the installation of comprehensive underride protection?

Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Back-of-the-Envelope Math for Underride Protection Retrofit Cost/Trailer Equation

Truck Safety, , , , ,

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:

Rear guard $ 500

AngelWing Side guard $2,900

Equipment total $3,400

(TrailerGuard SafetySkirt side/rear underride protection system estimate $2,500)

Estimated years of service for a trailer = 15 years

$3,400/15 years = $227/yr

$227 yr./365 days = $0.62/day

So, for $0.62 per day, the trailer owner has the following benefits:

  1. An underride crash with fatalities or life-altering injuries can take a settlement beyond insurance policy limits. Current minimum liability is $750,000; many carriers carry $1 million — large carriers may carry more.
  2. Underride crashes can lead to bankruptcy for independent owner operators and small motor carriers.
  3. Those opposing the bill are not doing a favor to truck drivers, owner operators, and small carriers.
  4. Truck drivers, in general, don’t understand that underride protection will benefit them. It will save their livelihoods.
  5. It will keep truck drivers, who are at fault in a crash, from going to jail if an underride death can be prevented.
  6. It will decrease liability costs, which should decrease their insurance costs.
  7. It could prevent PTSD from being involved in a fatal truck crash (no matter what caused the crash).
  8. A “closed casket crash” impacts truck drivers for a lifetime.
  9. If truck owners would break down the costs of adding the protection over the life of a trailer (10-15 years), it comes out to a very small amount/month — approx. $ .62/day.
  10. Tax deduction from IRS Section 179 for safety equipment purchase.
  11. When side guards are combined with side skirts, it can provide additional fuel savings.
  12. By the way: Allowing underride crashes wastes all of the safety R&D which the auto industry has put into improving the safety features of cars (crush/crumple zone, airbags, seatbelts).

 

Underride Protection Retrofit Cost_Trailer

 

 

Designed to be deployed externally from side of the vehicle, this airbag helps serve as an add’l crumple zone

Truck Safety, , ,
Engineering ingenuity goes hand in hand with the saying, Necessity is the mother of invention. I say, let engineers have at occupant protection — including protection of occupants in the other vehicle.
 
How about this external airbag on a truck — or some version thereof? Along with installation on the passenger vehicles, I’m thinking this could do much to improve crash survivability.

“Designed to be deployed externally from the side of the vehicle, this airbag helps serve as an additional crumple zone in the event of an accident.”

http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/zf-designs-external-precrash-airbag-systems-and-new-seating-configurations-41405

Some say not much room to improve passive safety. I say: Plenty of room to improve underride protection!

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Preventing traffic deaths and injuries can be accomplished in multiple ways. Some involve active safety and some passive safety countermeasures. Some say that “passive safety technology is reaching a level of maturity, so further room for improvement is limited.”

Active Safety System Vs Passive Safety System – What Is The Difference?

As far as I am concerned, there is plenty of room for improvement in comprehensive underride protection — a form of passive safety — both in the U.S. and globally.

Let’s work together to make it happen!

A compelling look at Death By Underride from Cool Breeze Studio

AnnaLeah and Mary, Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, ,

Lois Durso & I were privileged to meet with Michael Hawkins (Cool Breeze Studio) last week at his studio in South Carolina to begin work on some underride video productions. Mike just finished this short look at Death By Underride.

In memory of Roya, AnnaLeah & Mary and the countless other victims of underride

With the hope that countless other people will be spared a similar fate

Sign the STOP Underrides! Petition here: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

STOP Underrides Brochure 2018 3

Truck Owners Can Deduct Underride Protection Cost Dollar for Dollar. So Why Don’t They Want to Put It On?

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“So tell me, why were we talking about side guards on March 19, 1969 — almost 50 years ago — and we still have not put them on trucks?!” Thousands of people have needlessly died. (Questioning the industry panel at the Road to Zero Coalition meeting in DC)

(Click on Q & A at this link: http://nsc.capitolconnection.org/032018/nsc_archive_flv.htm)

Not only that, but we did our taxes today and I asked the tax consultant what it would mean to a truck owner if they took advantage of IRS Tax Code Section 179 and deducted the purchase of underride prevention equipment. She said that they would be able to deduct the cost of the equipment — dollar for dollar.

As my son pointed out, they will not get all of their money back. But they will get the deduction. They will get fuel savings with side guards that are combined with side skirts and thus a quick ROI. They will get back on the road more quickly in the event of a collision when there is not a fatality and their truck is not as damaged. Their insurance liability will be less and perhaps the insurance companies will jump on board and lower their costs. They will be helping to save lives and reduce the number of horrific injuries and, in the process, gain some peace of mind themselves.

What are we waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road!

2 Moms Collaborate With Innovative & Insightful Truck Industry Leaders

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After two full days of attending the ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council conference in Nashville, I am having a hard time figuring out what to talk about first.

It has been very good to spend that time with Lois Durso, a mom who also lost a daughter to truck (side) underride. We first began talking on the phone a couple of weeks ago and planned to meet at the conference. Having a bond of similar grief, we have talked almost non-stop — both about our daughters as well as strategies for truck safety.

In fact, we were both guests of Stoughton Trailers at the conference and they asked me to share our family’s crash story and the safety advocacy which followed, as well as our appreciation of how Stoughton stepped up and voluntarily improved their rear impact guard and are able to offer it as standard on all new dry van trailers — at no added cost or weight penalty to their customers.

Gary Fenton, VP Engineering, Stoughton Trailers, Marianne Karth, Bob Wahlin, CEO Stoughton Trailers

I received a wonderful surprise this morning when I unexpectedly found out that Stoughton now has a rear impact guard (RIG) retrofit kit available for purchase to install as a replacement on all existing (compatible) Stoughton trailers, as far back as 2007. I talked with the Products manager and she roughly estimated the cost to trailer owners to be around $500-600.

I am not indicating that Stoughton’s new RIG is necessarily better than any of the other manufacturers who have also stepped up to the plate and designed rear guards to receive the Toughguard award. But I am commending them for making the safety of the driving public a priority.  In fact, I do not have specific crash test information to rate one new design compared to the others.  At the end of the day, Jerry and I are thankful to the many persons and companies which have helped to bring about this progress in underride protection.

We will continue to advocate for the strongest possible underride protection on all trucks. That, of course, includes side underride protection, which Lois and I discussed with many industry leaders this week. It also means that Single Unit Trucks still need to be addressed, along with front override, retrofitting, maintenance, and identifying the outer limits of underride protection.

We are not done yet. They haven’t seen the last of us. We’ve got more lives to save.

Lois Durso, Dick Giromini, CEO of Wabash Trailers, Marianne Karth

Stay tuned for news from IIHS on trailer manufacturer underride protection awards.

Update: IIHS announcement at 10 a.m. on March 1; Trucks.com article: Insurance Institute Launches New Safety Ranking of Truck Trailers

Other articles covering this story:

  1. Trucks.com article: Insurance Institute Launches New Safety Ranking of Truck Trailers
  2. Today’s Trucking article on the Stoughton Press Conference: Activist applauds Stoughton for tougher guards
  3. Trucknews.com: Stoughton improves rear impact guard
  4. Fleetowner.com: New refrigerated model on the way from Stoughton Trailers
  5. Truckinginfo.com: Stoughton Underride Guard Earns Kudos from Crash Survivor, Insurance Institute

Thank you, IIHS for your commitment to this crash testing project, which has highlighted the continuing underride problem and guided the way to a solution. Thank you, as well, to the trailer manufacturers who have voluntarily improved the rear underride protection on the trailers which they produce and sell (and/or lease).

Here is a Youtube video, of IIHS crash testing research, which shows improvement in the rear underride guards of major trailer manufacturers.

They have proven that creative minds can come up with better underride protection. The cars are damaged from the crash, but underride is prevented and lives are preserved.