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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should reconsider its “dramatic underestimate” of the number of lives that could be saved by requiring side-underride guards for large trucks, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said in a recent regulatory comment made public today. Federal regulations require tractor-trailers to have underride guards on their rears, but not on their sides. (AutoInformed: IIHS: Federal Rule On Truck Under-Ride Inadequate)
“Requiring side underride guards could save more than 10 times as many lives as NHTSA projects,”* said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow. In 2021, there were 488 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in crashes involving the side of a tractor-trailer.
During an underride crash, a smaller vehicle crashes into a truck and goes completely or partially underneath it. This makes serious injuries to people riding in the smaller vehicle more likely.
NHTSA requested comments on its preliminary cost-benefit analysis of requiring side underride guards on all new trailers and semitrailers. The report estimated that equipping all large trucks in the U.S. fleet would cost between $973 million and $1.2 billion and would prevent 17 fatalities and 69 serious injuries annually. (Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0012)
Using what IIHS called “an alternative method,” Brumbelow projected that a side-underride guard mandate could prevent ~159-217 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities per year, depending on whether it required protection forward of the rear axle or along the full length of the trailer. It would also “likely save many of the pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists who are killed each year in crashes involving the sides of tractor-trailers.”
Past IIHS crash tests have shown that aftermarket side underride guards can prevent vehicles from sliding underneath truck trailers at speeds as high as 40 mph. “It’s possible that they also work at higher speeds, especially in non-perpendicular crashes where the speed relative to the trailer is lower than the travel speed,” IIHS said.
* This proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) responds to Section 23011(c) of the November 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), usually referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which directs the Secretary to conduct research on side under-ride guards to understand their overall effectiveness, and assess the feasibility, benefits, costs, and other impacts of installing side under-ride guards on trailers and semitrailers. The BIL further directs the Secretary to report the findings of the research in a Federal Register notice to seek public comment. This ANPRM also responds to a petition for rulemaking from Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (TSC).
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
IIHS – NHTSA Misjudges Value of Truck Side-Underride Guards
Click for more information.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should reconsider its “dramatic underestimate” of the number of lives that could be saved by requiring side-underride guards for large trucks, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said in a recent regulatory comment made public today. Federal regulations require tractor-trailers to have underride guards on their rears, but not on their sides. (AutoInformed: IIHS: Federal Rule On Truck Under-Ride Inadequate)
“Requiring side underride guards could save more than 10 times as many lives as NHTSA projects,”* said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow. In 2021, there were 488 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in crashes involving the side of a tractor-trailer.
During an underride crash, a smaller vehicle crashes into a truck and goes completely or partially underneath it. This makes serious injuries to people riding in the smaller vehicle more likely.
NHTSA requested comments on its preliminary cost-benefit analysis of requiring side underride guards on all new trailers and semitrailers. The report estimated that equipping all large trucks in the U.S. fleet would cost between $973 million and $1.2 billion and would prevent 17 fatalities and 69 serious injuries annually. (Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0012)
Using what IIHS called “an alternative method,” Brumbelow projected that a side-underride guard mandate could prevent ~159-217 passenger vehicle occupant fatalities per year, depending on whether it required protection forward of the rear axle or along the full length of the trailer. It would also “likely save many of the pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists who are killed each year in crashes involving the sides of tractor-trailers.”
Past IIHS crash tests have shown that aftermarket side underride guards can prevent vehicles from sliding underneath truck trailers at speeds as high as 40 mph. “It’s possible that they also work at higher speeds, especially in non-perpendicular crashes where the speed relative to the trailer is lower than the travel speed,” IIHS said.
* This proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) responds to Section 23011(c) of the November 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), usually referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which directs the Secretary to conduct research on side under-ride guards to understand their overall effectiveness, and assess the feasibility, benefits, costs, and other impacts of installing side under-ride guards on trailers and semitrailers. The BIL further directs the Secretary to report the findings of the research in a Federal Register notice to seek public comment. This ANPRM also responds to a petition for rulemaking from Ms. Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition (TSC).
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.