New legislation would mandate side underride guards
Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require side underride guards on all new trailers, semi-trailers, and single-unit trucks.
“Truck underride guards are one of the best and easiest solutions for protecting passengers during collisions with large trucks,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation. “The Stop Underrides Act 2.0 is commonsense legislation that will protect passengers and make our roads safer.”
Existing law requires only rear underride guards. The legislation would require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to finalize its rulemaking on underside guards. In 2023, NHTSA issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on side underride guards but did not proceed with the rulemaking.
“With truck underride collisions claiming the lives of at least 300 people per year, the time to act on reforms is now. Small changes will make a big difference, and we cannot leave any room for error,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California.
Opponents of the mandate, such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, have previously cited cost concerns and the additional weight of the guards.
In addition to mandating side underride guards, the legislation would require the Department of Transportation to restart the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, require DOT to publish a website making underride research accessible, and mandate studies on ways to better protect occupants in underride incidents, including those involving the fronts of large trucks.
Have your say
This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.
-
This pictured system shows a poorly thought-out option. If legislation is being brought in, why not just use the system that everyone else has used for 30 years,
lightweight and functional and proven all over the world.
If this pictured trailer had a substantial side impact, this setup would not absorb much energy, it would likely move the trailer sideways. That is probably not a good outcome either. Resistance to change in the Trucking industry in America is extreme with any rule change deemed an affront to their driving skills. They will just blame the rest of the driving public for accidents, maybe correctly. But just because you are a bad driver, does not mean you shouldn’t be protected, even from your own bad driving. People learn by making mistakes, they learn nothing if they are killed. A simple lightweight solution exists to give them the chance if America can only move forward with it in the right way.
Lateral protection devices for trailers are already mandated in Mexico, but only to prevent pedestrians and cyclists to fall under the tires of the trailers. In Europe the mandate includes trucks and trailers 3,5 tons and heavier, but also only for vulnerable road users.
Which solution would save more lives, a lateral protection device for vulnerable road users or an underride device for heavier vehicles, motorcycles and light vehicles?
A lateral protection device for a 53′ trailer weights approx 55 kg so it does not impact the productivity of the trailer and in Mexico saves approx 350 lives per year.
An underride device would weight approx 500 kg.
As if we don’t already have enough trucks getting stuck on railroad crossings, entrance humps, and so much more…. How about maybe educate passenger vehicle drivers and teach them to not try to drive under our trucks! The passenger vehicles are responsible for at least 75% of the fatality involved accidents involving both a passenger vehicle and a commercial motor vehicle… So why should an entire industry have to bend over backwards, increase its maintenance expenses, complicat its equipment, and cater to less than .0001% of the other drivers on the roads?
If the government is requiring it, the government should pay for it?
ELDs we’re supposed to make things safer… But they didn’t.
The list of all the things the government has said will make things safer and hasn’t worked is so long that I’m not even going to attempt!