Underride protections a focus for NHTSA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is finalizing a rule aimed at improving protection for drivers and passengers in a rear-underride crash.
As of press time, the agency also planned to release an advance notice of proposed rulemaking “to consider requirements for side-underride guards for crashes into the sides of trailers and semitrailers.”
NHTSA made the announcement through a news release on June 30.
Rear-underride crashes occur when the front end of a vehicle crashes into the back of a larger vehicle, such as a tractor-trailer. The rule requires that the rear-impact guards on trailers and semitrailers possess sufficient strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of passenger vehicles in multiple crash scenarios. NHTSA’s final rule upgrades the current safety standards addressing rear-underride protection.
“NHTSA’s priority is the safety of everyone on our roads,” NHTSA Administrator Steven Cliff said in a news release. “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.”
The agency is implementing several other underride provisions from the 2021 infrastructure law, including these:
- Establishing a federal advisory committee on underride protection, which will complete research on side-underride guards for trailers and semitrailers to assess their effectiveness, feasibility, benefits, costs and impact on intermodal operations.
- Planning to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to consider requirements for side-underride guards for crashes into the sides of trailers and semitrailers.
- Improving data collection of underride crashes by recommending inclusion of underride data in state crash data systems and by providing educational materials to state and local police departments on identifying and recording underride crashes.
- Conducting research on rear-impact guard designs that better protect occupants of passenger vehicles in even more rear-underride crash scenarios.
Side-underride guards
The 2021 infrastructure law included a provision requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete research on side-underride guards “to better understand the overall effectiveness.” The report would be tasked with assessing the feasibility, benefits, costs and any effects on intermodal equipment, freight mobility and freight capacity associated with installing side-underride guards on newly manufactured trailers and semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more.
The advance notice of proposed rulemaking will be a step toward fulfilling this requirement. It also is expected that the advance notice of proposed rulemaking will inform the agency whether or not to move forward with a rulemaking to mandate side-underride guards.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is against any push toward an eventual mandate of side-underride guards. The Association has previously spoken out against the Stop Underrides Act, which would require underride guards on the sides and front of all new tractor-trailers.
OOIDA has said that a mandate would be impractical and costly, “thus outweighing any perceived safety benefits.”
Advisory committee
In July, NHTSA began accepting nominations for its Advisory Committee on Underride Protection.
“The purpose of the (committee) is to provide advice and recommendations to the secretary of transportation on safety regulations to reduce underride crashes and fatalities relating to underride crashes,” the notice stated.
Members of the committee will be expected to perform these duties:
- Gather information as necessary to discuss issues presented by the designated federal officer.
- Deliberate on issues relevant to safety regulations related to underride crashes and fatalities from underride crashes.
- Provide written consensus advice to the secretary on underride protection to reduce underride crashes and fatalities relating to underride crashes.
- Submit to the House and Senate committees a biennial report that describes the recommendations made to the secretary and includes an assessment of progress made by the secretary in advancing safety regulations relating to underride crashes.
Those who wish to apply can email ACUP@dot.gov by Aug. 5. LL