“IIHS crash testing has shown it’s possible to design guards that can withstand crashes with a narrow overlap, but the new rule does not require such testing,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
The IIHS said today that the National Highway Safety Administration’s announcement of an updated rule for rear under-ride protection on large trucks is an ineffective approach.
“In its long-awaited rule on truck under-ride protection, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) appears to be out of sync with the Safe System strategy adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier this year.
“We were pleased to see DOT adopt this strategy, but we also knew those were just words on paper. Success requires implementation of redundant safety interventions like better under-ride protection on trailers to ensure that a mistake on the roadway does not result in serious injury or death. NHTSA’s updated rule does not go far enough to be meaningful,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
The US DOT Safe System approach works by building and reinforcing multiple layers of protection to both prevent crashes from happening and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur. This is a change from a conventional safety approach because it focuses on both human mistakes And human vulnerability. In theory, it designs a system with many redundancies in place to protect everyone.
“The US DOT‘s National Roadway Safety Strategy and the Department’s ongoing safety programs are working towards a future with zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. In support of this approach, safety programs are focused on infrastructure, human behavior, responsible oversight of the vehicle and transportation industry, and emergency response,” according to the DOT.
“For nearly 50 years, IIHS has pushed for stronger government regulations to improve rear under-ride guards on large trucks. While an updated standard went into effect in 1998, it was still too weak. Our research in the early 2000s confirmed that and showed that much more could be done to prevent under-ride. Building on our research and crash testing, we petitioned the federal government in 2011 to improve under-ride protection,” said Harkey.
“The final rule issued by NHTSA on June 30 falls well short of addressing most of the concerns raised in our petition. While the new standard is an improvement over the old one, nearly all newly manufactured guards on trailers already meet this new standard, which is similar to a longstanding Canadian requirement. Meanwhile, IIHS crash testing and the Toughguard award we inaugurated in 2017 have pushed the largest trailer manufacturers to strengthen their under ride guards well beyond this level, demonstrating that further improvements are feasible.
“To truly reduce the number of lives lost in under-ride crashes, NHTSA needs to incorporate changes that would require crash testing of guards when mounted on trailers, allow fewer exemptions for other kinds of trucks and improve protection in offset crashes. The Safe System strategy, if it is to be more than words on paper, requires NHTSA to take all these steps.
“IIHS crash testing has shown it’s possible to design guards that can withstand crashes with a narrow overlap, but the new rule does not require such testing,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
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IIHS: Federal Rule On Truck Under-Ride Inadequate
“IIHS crash testing has shown it’s possible to design guards that can withstand crashes with a narrow overlap, but the new rule does not require such testing,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
The IIHS said today that the National Highway Safety Administration’s announcement of an updated rule for rear under-ride protection on large trucks is an ineffective approach.
“In its long-awaited rule on truck under-ride protection, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) appears to be out of sync with the Safe System strategy adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier this year.
“We were pleased to see DOT adopt this strategy, but we also knew those were just words on paper. Success requires implementation of redundant safety interventions like better under-ride protection on trailers to ensure that a mistake on the roadway does not result in serious injury or death. NHTSA’s updated rule does not go far enough to be meaningful,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
The US DOT Safe System approach works by building and reinforcing multiple layers of protection to both prevent crashes from happening and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur. This is a change from a conventional safety approach because it focuses on both human mistakes And human vulnerability. In theory, it designs a system with many redundancies in place to protect everyone.
“The US DOT‘s National Roadway Safety Strategy and the Department’s ongoing safety programs are working towards a future with zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. In support of this approach, safety programs are focused on infrastructure, human behavior, responsible oversight of the vehicle and transportation industry, and emergency response,” according to the DOT.
“For nearly 50 years, IIHS has pushed for stronger government regulations to improve rear under-ride guards on large trucks. While an updated standard went into effect in 1998, it was still too weak. Our research in the early 2000s confirmed that and showed that much more could be done to prevent under-ride. Building on our research and crash testing, we petitioned the federal government in 2011 to improve under-ride protection,” said Harkey.
“The final rule issued by NHTSA on June 30 falls well short of addressing most of the concerns raised in our petition. While the new standard is an improvement over the old one, nearly all newly manufactured guards on trailers already meet this new standard, which is similar to a longstanding Canadian requirement. Meanwhile, IIHS crash testing and the Toughguard award we inaugurated in 2017 have pushed the largest trailer manufacturers to strengthen their under ride guards well beyond this level, demonstrating that further improvements are feasible.
“To truly reduce the number of lives lost in under-ride crashes, NHTSA needs to incorporate changes that would require crash testing of guards when mounted on trailers, allow fewer exemptions for other kinds of trucks and improve protection in offset crashes. The Safe System strategy, if it is to be more than words on paper, requires NHTSA to take all these steps.
“IIHS crash testing has shown it’s possible to design guards that can withstand crashes with a narrow overlap, but the new rule does not require such testing,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
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