In order to gain a basic understanding of the deadly but preventable truck underride problem, a compilation of helpful resources is provided below.

1. 1. BASIC UNDERRIDE INFORMATION
   2. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
   3. A compilation of numerous Underride Guard PATENTS

1. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.
2. A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil
3. Important Videos: Basics of Underride; Front Underride Protection crash test; Side Guard crash test; Rear Guard crash test; Rear Retrofit crash test; Safetyskirt SIG.R Crash Test 2023, 35 mph T-Bone Behind Axles; SafetySkirt Crash Testing Videos; Unguarded Crash Test 2023, 37.5 mph, 45 Degree Angle Crash; Bicycle Underride Crash Test (September 2024) — with & without side guard)
4. STOP Underrides! YouTube Channel Truck Underride Video Playlist
5. Underride Crash Test Videos
6. The Violent Nature Of Underride Injuries Is Widely Ignored
7. Stoughton Successfully Completes 40 MPH Rear Impact Guard Crash Test
8. STOP Underrides National Town Hall – SAVE THE DATE
9. Rationale for Republican Support of STOP Underrides Bill
10. STOP Underrides Bill Re-Introduced In Senate & House
11. Ralph Nader Radio Hour Highlights Underride. . . Here’s The Rest of the Story
12. “Georgia looks to police to decide whether to start tracking deadly underride crashes”
13. Did DOT Violate the Information Quality Act When it Published Side Underride Guard Research?
14. Critique of NHTSA-Contracted Elemance Rear Impact Guard Research
15. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Existing Solutions
16. The Missing Piece of the Roadway Safety Puzzle: National Roadway Safety Advocate
17. DOT Is Asking For Input. Tell Them To Give Crash Victims a Voice
18. First-time Ever: NHTSA Nominee Questioned On Underride By Senator
19. Good News: Stoughton extends IIHS-award-winning underride protection to container shipping
20. What’s New In Underride?
21. Lateral Protection Device+ Performance Standard = Prevention of Side Underride Tragedies Updated May 10, 2025
22. Risky Rigs: Thousands of people have died after their car slid under a tractor-trailer
23. NHTSA’s Neglect of Underride Protection Deserves Congressional Oversight
24. $462M Jury Verdict Over Rear Impact Guard Design
25. What Don’t They Want to See? DOT Declines to Send Observer to Underride Crash Test… AGAIN!
26. Industry Response to ACUP Report; Enough of the Bellyaching Already!
27. NHTSA Defends Itself to Congress – Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
28. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection Reports to Congress & DOT Secretary
29. DOT Victim & Survivor Advocate Act Introduced To Give Victims A Voice
30. Senior Agency Officials Suppressed Side Guard Research — Impacting Regulatory Analysis
31. Underride Crash Memorials
32. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24, 2024 Meeting Record
33. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, April 24 Meeting Video Playlist
34. How To Make Crashes With The Front Of A Truck More Survivable
35. Register for April 24 Meeting of Advisory Committee on Underride Protection
36. Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, February 8, 2024 Meeting Record
37. Front Impact Guard Webinar – April 17
38. Truck Impact Guards = Underride Protection
39. Upcoming Underride Advisory Committee Meeting Schedule
40. Underride Made #1 on ‘FRONTLINE Dispatch’ Podcast Episodes of 2023
41. Unsung Underride Prevention Heroes
42. My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report
43. Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People
44. Video of Speakers at Underride Victim Vigil
45. A Record of Those Remembered in the Underride Victim Vigil
46. Media Coverage of DC Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference
47. A day in the life of an underride crash test crew; A Photographer’s Perspective
48. Underride Victim Vigil & Press Conference on DOT Steps in DC
49. Simply Mary. . . August 6, 1999 – May 8, 2013
50. Video from STOP Underrides Crash Test Event
51. Public Comments on the Side Guard ANPRM (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
52. Still Time to Submit a Public Comment on Side Guard Rule (July 20)
53. STOP Senseless Roadway Deaths: Give Victims a Voice
54. So, what did you think of the PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary?
55. PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary & Petition to Secretary Pete
56. Commemorative Bell for Roadway Safety Victims
57. Taking On a Safety Issue: Hazardous Railroad Crossings
58. Upcoming PBS/Frontline Documentary: “America’s Dangerous Trucks”
59. Global Underride Discussion
60. 10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change
61. May 4, 2013 seems like just yesterday; has anything changed?
62. What Do Baseball & Truck Underride Have In Common?
63. FARS Coding of a Sample of Rear Underride Crashes
64. LPD+ Saves Lives; But what’s an LPD+?
65. STOP Underrides Crash Test Tour
66. “Economism Is Out Of Control” In Life & Death Regulatory Analysis
67. Remembering AnnaLeah & Mary
68. Someday, Seeing Side Guards & Strong Rear Underride Guards Will No Longer Surprise Me
69. Successful Side Guard Crash Test in Raleigh
70. NHTSA Failing To Educate Stakeholders On Underride
71. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis Presentation to TEAM Underride
72. Update on Underride Protection Progress
73. Side Guard Cost Benefit Analysis
74. Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports
75. “A Safety Rule, A Fatal Flaw”; Industry Discussed Underride Rules in 2000
76. Another Side Guard On The Road
77. Too Many Lives Forever Changed
78. Cohen, Gillibrand Call on DOT to Act Expeditiously & Implement Provisions from Their Stop Underrides Act Included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
79. Five Years Have Passed Since the Historic IIHS Side Guard Crash Test
80. Back of the Envelope Math: How many side underride deaths since March 19, 1969?
81. 53 Years or 19,358 days
82. When it comes to underride, where do you stand?
83. DOT Announced A National Roadway Safety Strategy; Now It’s Time To Talk About What That Means
84. Timeline Of Research & Collaborative Efforts To Create A Consensus Side Guard Standard
85. Can the Insurance Industry Help End the Unfair Fight of Truck Underride Tragedies?
86. Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?
87. @SecretaryPete, Will you fix flawed underride analysis or let deaths continue?
88. Families glad new infrastructure law will address underride crashes, WRTV, November 18, 2021
89. First responders train to save lives during underride crashes, WRTV, November 23, 2021
90. Raleigh Mom: Infrastructure Bill Will Prevent Crashes Like the One That Killed My Girls , Raleigh News&Observer, November 18, 2021
91. Rear impact guard now part of annual truck inspection, CCJ, November 15, 2021
92. FMCSA Issues Final Rule: Rear Underride Guards To Be Part Of Annual Inspections, November 20, 2021
93. Thoughts on Landmark Underride Legislation
94. AAJ Supports Trailer Safety Recall Petition: “NHTSA is well within its authority to issue a recall”
95. Unguarded & Unsafe: Death By Underride by Eric Hein, July 15, 2021
96. STOP Underrides Petition can be found here.
97. A Timeline of Underride Safety
98. Certified Letters Alert 200 Carriers of Underride Dangers & Solutions
99. History of Underride Research & Reports: 1896-2019
100. Petition for NHTSA To Recall Semitrailers Due To Lack Of Side Underride Guards
101. Will DOT Respond to Petition for Underride Rulemaking on Single Unit Trucks?
102. Side Guard Costs Likely To Decrease With Higher Deployment Volumes
103. Protecting Passenger Vehicles from Side Underride with Heavy Trucks More research on side underride has just been published by SAE International following a presentation by Garrett Mattos of the Friedman Research Center at a SAE Conference. Hopefully, the Department of Transportation now has enough research to make good on their March 19, 1969 intention to add underride protection to the sides of large vehicles.
104. IIHS Research Provides Foundation for Traffic Safety Legislation – Including Underride
105. What will it take to get UNDERRIDE on DOT Regulatory Agenda? We’ve been waiting 52+ years for DOT to move forward with side guards on large trucks — not to mention improving rear guard regulations and adding front underride protection. After numerous petitions, comprehensive underride rulemaking still has not made it the onto the DOT Unified Regulatory Agenda.
106. Collaborative Discussion of Side Guard Challenges on Specialty Trucks I was very pleased with the collaborative discussion which took place via Zoom on Monday, March 29, 2021, regarding the challenges of adding side guard safety technology to specialty trucks. Participants included primarily engineers and small companies who have been working on researching, designing, and/or marketing solutions to the underride problem. The meeting was also quietly observed by families of underride victims and administrative officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
107. The March Madness of Competing Traffic Safety Interests What is it like to compete for the attention of government leaders in order to get traction on the traffic safety problem which took your loved one’s life? Envision a press conference on a hot topic where a cacophony of reporters can be heard shouting out — vying for the opportunity to have their question be the one that gets answered.
108. Time for a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman Almost five years ago, after delivering a Vision Zero Petition to leaders in Washington, D.C., I realized that we need something more than a White House Vision Zero Task Force and a National Vision Zero Goal. We need a National Traffic Safety Ombudsman to be at the helm of a nationwide network of community traffic safety advocates. Someone who will have a place at the federal table — with the authority to take ongoing action on behalf of vulnerable victims of vehicle violence.
109. Will NHTSA & NTSB Address Side Underride Factor In Latest Tesla Crash Investigation? I have again requested that NHTSA and NTSB address the side underride factor in their investigation of yet another Tesla side underride crash.
110. Truck Underride Victims & Families Host News Conference for STOP Underrides Act Introduction On Monday, March 8, 2021, truck crash victims’ families hosted a news conference to discuss their stories and the recent introduction of the STOP Underrides Act of 2021 — on March 4, 2021 in the Senate and March 8 in the House.
111. Engineers, Trucking Industry, & Victim Advocates Collaborate at Side Guard Task Force 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.
112. Should we be concerned about side guards getting hung up on railroad tracks? I keep hearing members of the trucking industry bring up the possibility of side guards on trailers getting hung-up on railroad tracks. They point to it as a reason to not require side guards on all new trucks. Is that a valid concern? And where is their documentation?
113. Transport Companies Provide Feedback on Side Guard Operational Issues We know that the trucking industry has expressed concern about potential operational issues which could occur when side guards are installed on large trucks. In order to address those concerns, we asked several trucking companies to give us feedback about their experience after installing side guards on their tractor-trailers.
114. Consensus Side Guard Standard 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.
115. Utility Trailers Encourages Retrofit of Rear Impact Guards To Prevent Underride 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.
116. FMCSA Proposed Rule For Inspection of Rear Underride Guards A red letter day: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at long last has proposed a rule to add rear underride guards to Appendix G. What does that mean? It means that rear underride guards will be required to be in good condition in order to pass an annual vehicle inspection. Once the rule is actually issued.
117. “Chattanoga crash that killed 5 underscores bill to add protective barriers to semi trucks”
118. Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride It is to their credit that nine U.S. trailer manufacturers have improved their rear underride guard design to meet the IIHS TOUGHGuard standard and seven of them are putting it on all new trailers as Standard. What that means is that they have surpassed the current federal standard and have been crash tested to show that they are more likely to prevent underride and catastrophic Passenger Compartment Intrusion (PCI) — thereby more likely to save lives when passenger vehicles rear end tractor-trailers.
119. Save Lives by Lighting up Tractor-Trailers & Tanker Trucks Truck drivers can play an important role in making sure that the trailers which they haul are as visible as possible to other drivers on the road — especially at nighttime. On October 15, 2018, Leslie and Sophie Rosenberg lost their lives when they collided with the side of a tanker late at night.
120. Truck Driver Mistakes Don’t Excuse Industry & Government Negligence To Solve Underride Problem Thanksgiving Eve, another apparent underride victim lost her life: Though the truck driver may have made a mistake, not all the blame rests with him for a crash which might have had a different outcome with effective underride protection. Carriers, trailer manufacturers, DOT, & Congress can make these kinds of truck crashes more survivable.
121. A fully-guarded trailer hits the road – ready to STOP underride! Engineering ingenuity and a lot of hard work went into the research, development, and installation of this fully-guarded trailer system. This week, a small carrier in North Carolina became part of our pilot program. We are thankful that they have agreed to provide us feedback on this #SaferTruck as they drive it on the road to carry out their transport business.
122. On August 19, we hosted another Underride Staff Briefing — this time via Zoom. We are providing Congressional Offices with the PowerPoint pdf from that presentation, including comments from engineers with expertise in underride as well as underride families: Underride Briefing PowerPoint pdf (inc. links to resources & video)
123. Crash Tests of Rear Underride Guard Reinforcement Attachments, 2016 & 2020
124. Media Reports & Video Footage Unveil Highlights of the Successful D.C. Underride Crash Test Event Read more here.
125. Comparison Chart of Underride Provisions in Various Bills
126. A quick look at some of the more recent efforts to STOP underride tragedies: Update on Underride News
127. SOCIAL MEDIA: #STOPunderrides Tweets & Facebook Pages: STOP Underrides Act of 2019 and Save Lives/Stop Underrides., AnnaLeah&MaryforTruckSafety , stopunderrides.org
128. Underride Crash Memorials These are posts in memory of a few of the thousands of underride victims. The tip of the iceberg of senseless, preventable deaths. I will slowly be adding more.

The Difference that a well-designed rear underride guard makes:

Benefits of Side Underride Guards for Semi-Trailers:

Volvo crash test of Front Underride Protection on a large truck:

IIHS: Truck Underride Guard Ratings; Recognizing Good Rear Underride Protection The 8 major trailer manufacturers, as well as a smaller one, have all designed stronger rear underride guards. All but 2 of them are offering it as Standard on new trailers.

A few of these manufacturers offer Rear Retrofit Kits for existing trailers as well. However, last I heard there are not many of these retrofit options are being purchased and installed — despite the fact that they could be saving lives. Like 2 deputy sheriffs who rear-ended a tractor trailer on September 29, 2020 in Georgia: In Memory of Anthony White & Kenny Ingram

A complete list of posts on Understanding Underride can be found here:

• Understanding Underride I: Basics of Truck Underride
• Understanding Underride II: From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
• Understanding Underride III: Rear Underride
• Understanding Underride IV: Side Underride
• Understanding Underride V: Front Underride
• Understanding Underride VI: Maintenance of Underride Equipment
• Understanding Underride VII: Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Understanding Underride VIII: Making the Case for Comprehensive Underride Protection Legislation

The STOP Underrides! Act of 2017 will get the ball rolling so that creative engineers can put effective underride protection on every truck — resulting in more truck crash  survivors who can live to see another day.

This bill has been drafted by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. On December 12, 2017, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Marco Rubio,  Congressman Steve Cohen, and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier introduced the bill in Congress.  They are all seeking Republican co-sponsors for this long-overdue, life-saving legislation. S. 665 and HR. 1511

March 3, 2018, on BlogTalkRadio, Ask The Trucker Talk Show hosts, Allen & Donna Smith, talk with Lois Durso, Jerry and Marianne Karth about truck underride and the bill: Underride Protection Act of 2017- Truck RearGuards & SideGuards and their blog post:

Unknown facts about underride crashes and prevention

Please SIGN & SHARE the STOP Underrides! Bill Petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

On October 12, 2017, staff from Congressional Offices gathered to hear presentations from five experts on the topic of truck underride to better understand the need for the STOP Underrides! bill. The presentations were followed by a question & answer period as legislative staff sought to understand the problem and solutions of deadly but preventable underride crashes.

The presentations can be found here: Underride Briefing on The Hill; Video Excerpts of Panel Discussion on October 12

WUSA9 began an extensive investigation into truck underride. The segments which have already aired are listed here. They plan to shed light on the problem until it is adequately addressed in this country.

• Many of the segments of the WUSA9 Investigative Underride series can be found here.
• Introduction by Eric Flack: A danger on the highway. . .
• Part 1 aired on July 13, 2017 “Mothers fight for tougher tractor trailer laws after daughters die in underride crashes”
• Part 2 aired on July 14, 2017, “Cost of a Life,”
• Part 3 aired on Tuesday, July 18, “Truck trailer rear guard rules have huge holes, safety experts say” 
• July 18, “Big rigs, Big risks: Are rear truck guards enough?”
• Special Response to Comments on Social Media, July 19, “Rear underride accidents explained”
• Friday, July 21: “Powerful Senator joins calls for stronger semi-trailer underride guard laws”
• Friday, July 28: “Why don’t tractor trailers have side guards?“
• See all of the videos here: WUSA9 Underride Series Sheds Light on Deadly Truck Underride Tragedies & Solutions

ENTIRE WUSA9 series:

Senator Gillibrand questions FHWA nominee Paul Trombino about truck underride at Energy & Public Works Committee Hearing on October 5, 2017:

Matt Brumbelow, Sr. Research Engineer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, discusses side underride & guards in a radio interview:  https://soundcloud.com/1070wina/matthew-brumbelow

IIHS co-hosted the Second Underride Roundtable with the Truck Safety Coalition and AnnaLeah & Mary for Truck Safety at their Vehicle Research Center, on August 29, 2017.                                    Media Coverage of the Second Underride Roundtable

Another series of posts on underride is titled Underride 101:

Truck Underride 101: Discussion Topics

I. When Will We Tackle Truck Underride? Truck Underride 101: I. When Will We Tackle Truck Underride?

II. Why Comprehensive Underride Protection?  Truck Underride 101: II. Why Comprehensive Underride Protection?

III. Cost Benefit Analysis, Underride Rulemaking, and Vision Zero  Truck Underride 101: Part III. Cost Benefit Analysis, Underride Rulemaking, and Vision Zero

IV. Win/Win Truck Underride 101: Part IV Win/Win

V. Bipartisan Discussion of Legislative Strategy Truck Underride 101: Part V. Bipartisan Discussion of Legislative Strategy

Update on March 1, 2017: Toughguard IIHS announces a Award presented to 5 trailer manufacturers which have strengthened their rear underride guard.

Update on February 7, 2017: See the investigative report by the Today Show on side underride Side Underride Problem & Solutions Featured on The Today Show, as well as other posts on side guards.

Update on December 24, 2016: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Underride Test Protocol is now published on the Federal Register at this link: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – Underride Test Protocol

Stoughton improved underride guards–standard “at no cost or weight penalty.”

Efforts in 2016 to improve underride prevention:

• International Call for Underride Research Re: Injury Prevention & Energy Absorption Issues I put together another request for underride design proposals. I would like to be a little bit more specific and put out a call for research and data to put to rest, once and for all, the controversy over underride guard rigidity/strength and the potential for unintended injuries from too rigid guards. I would like to see it result in data which could lead to design of the best possible underride protection and practical solutions for underride guards to incorporate energy absorption components where appropriate.
• Knights of the Underride Roundtable: Finding Some Common Ground to Protect Travelers! On June 24, 12 people from diverse backgrounds met around a table at the IIHS offices in Arlington, Virginia, to continue the good work begun at the Underride Roundtable on May 5, 2016. This time, we rolled up our sleeves and hammered out a written recommendation for better rear underride guard requirements for tractor-trailers. To save lives.

On May 5, 2016, over 65 representatives from the trucking industry, government, safety advocates, engineers, crash reconstructionists, attorneys, and media met at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center to discuss and demonstrate truck underride crashes.

Media Coverage of the event: Media Coverage of the first Truck Underride Roundtable held at IIHS on May 5, 2016

Webcast Link to the Underride Roundtable/archived here: ! Webcast Link for Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Underride Roundtable

Underride Roundtable Agenda May 5, 2016

Truck Underride is also addressed in our Vision Zero Petition Book 3rd Edition

Underride Guard Fact Sheet

An underride guard, currently required on most motor carriers, is fastened below the bed of the trailer. Its purpose is to prevent a car from riding under the truck in the event of a collision. In the case of our crash, as all too often happens, the guard did not hold up and the rear of our vehicle went under the truck.

Photo: Our truck crash with rear underride, May 4, 2013: AnnaLeah & Mary were in the backseat, when our car was pushed backward under the tractor-trailer by another truck,  and they did not survive.

This post summarizes our efforts in the aftermath of the crash to bring about a National Vision Zero Goal–moving our country closer to reducing crash deaths and serious injuries: Are you aware that Death by Motor Vehicle is one of the leading causes of death?

We witnessed some crash tests on March 12, 2016, in North Carolina: Witnessed safety defect in action at underride crash tests; this is what snuffed out my daughters’ lives.

Past news: We looked forward to the first Underride Roundtable at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Virginia: Underride Roundtable Registration Now Open: May 5, 2016 at IIHS Vehicle Research Center

Media information about underride guards:

• http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-16/dead-girls-mom-says-100-truck-fix-may-have-saved-them.html
• https://annaleahmary.com/2014/10/iihs-reports-on-new-crash-testing-for-improved-underride-guards/
• IIHS Reports on New Crash Testing for Improved Underride Guards
• TSC’s Press Release: http://trucksafety.org/press-release-industry-makes-improvements-while-rule-for-better-underride-languishes/

Federal Rulemaking Status on Rear Underride for Single Unit Trucks at DOT (NHTSA):  http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201504&RIN=2127-AL57 & http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eoDetails?rrid=125236

Public Comments on Rear Underride Protection for Single Unit Trucks (ANPRM):  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR+PR+N+O+SR;rpp=10;po=0;D=NHTSA-2015-0070

Rulemaking Status on Rear Underride for Trailers:  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NHTSA-2015-0118

Public Comments on Rear Underride for Trailers:  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;D=NHTSA-2015-0118

See posts on this website about underride guards: https://annaleahmary.com/tag/underride-guards/

IIHS Status Reports with articles on underride guards:

• This issue featured our story & petition to DOT:  http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4907.pdf
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/7/2
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/46/2/1
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/new-crash-tests-underride-guards-on-most-big-rigs-leave-passenger-vehicle-occupants-at-risk-in-certain-crashes
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/underride-guards-on-big-rigs-often-fail-in-crashes-institute-petitions-government-for-new-standard
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/7/1
• http://www.iihs.org/bibliography/topic/1756
• http://www.iihs.org/bibliography/topic/2025
• http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/46/2/2

Our website to support underride research: AnnaLeah & Mary For Truck Safety: Save Lives

Other articles & information about underride guards: