Through a final rule issued last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enacted a comprehensive action on rear underride protection for trucks and formed an advisory committee on the issue – all in an effort to protect those involved in future crashes.
“NHTSA’s priority is the safety of everyone on our roads,” Dr. Steven Cliff, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator, said. “This new rule will improve protection for passengers and drivers of passenger vehicles while also meeting a critical mandate from Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
When the front end of a vehicle collides with the back of a larger vehicle like a trailer or semi-trailer, an underride crash can occur if the smaller slides under the large. Such crashes tend to be deadly for those behind. With this in mind, the new rule required the implementation of impact guards on trailers and semi-trailers with the necessary strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of any passenger vehicles that might hit them. These guards were designed based on multiple crash scenarios.
In conjunction with the new ruling, NHTSA also announced a new federal advisory committee, which will research side underride guards as well, diving into their efficacy, feasibility, benefits, costs and potential impact on intermodal operations. The agency intends to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to gather public comment in considering requirements for these additional underride guards.
Further, the NHTSA recommended inclusion of underride data in state crash data systems and educational materials for state and local police departments related to these crashes as a means of improving data collection. This will be paired with ongoing research into rear impact guard designs, meant to guarantee these guards offer the most protection for passenger vehicles.