New York bill includes rule for side underride guards

Following in the footsteps of Massachusetts one year ago, one New York state lawmaker wants to mandate side underride guards, or lateral protective devices, for certain trucks operating in the Empire State.

In 2021, New York City passed a local law for side guard requirements on municipal fleets.

New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, D-Brooklyn, is behind a bill that would expand the rule to require every “truck, tractor and tractor-trailer or semitrailer combination” registered in New York with a gross vehicle weight rating of at least 26,000 pounds to be equipped with side underride guards when traveling in the nation’s most populated city.

His legislation would apply whenever affected vehicles are operating on highways other than controlled-access highways.

Trucks in the state fleet exceeding 10,000 pounds would be required to be equipped with side underride guards. The state commissioner would be authorized to grant exemptions for trucks in the state fleet.

S7979 would take effect 24 months after being signed into law.

Justification for rule

The bill summary states that side underride guards are “a simple, cost effective safety measure to protect pedestrians, cyclists and passenger vehicle occupants in collisions with the side of a large truck.”

Gounardes includes in his justification for the bill that a joint report by the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center and the New York Department of Citywide Administrative Services found that the United Kingdom has experienced a 61% decrease in fatalities in cyclist collisions with the side of a truck and a 20% decrease in fatalities in pedestrian collisions with the side of a truck.

‘Flawed legislation’

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small-business truckers, opposes the New York pursuit.

“Any legislation that would require side underride guards on semitrailers is flawed legislation from the start,” said Doug Morris, OOIDA director of state government affairs. “We have shown that side underride guards are impractical, provide little to no safety benefit and cause major issues at many loading docks, railroad crossings as well as other traffic impediments. The costs surely outweigh the benefits.”

The Association also has been critical of a federal side underride guard mandate.

Massachusetts

A Massachusetts transportation safety bill signed into law one year ago included a mandate for side underride guards for trucks owned or leased by the state.

Since 2015, the city of Boston has required side guards on all city-contracted vehicles over 10,000 pounds and on any tractor-trailer with a combined weight over 26,000 pounds. The ordinance also mandates that affected vehicles have convex mirrors, cross-over mirrors and blind-spot awareness decals.

Trucks contracted with the state must include the devices starting in 2025. Affected trucks are required to use backup cameras, convex mirrors and cross-over mirrors.

The law defines affected state-owned or contracted vehicles as a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or semitrailer unit classified as a class 3 or above by the Federal Highway Administration, with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 10,000 pounds.

Gounardes is no stranger to pursuing truck rules at the New York statehouse.

In 2023, a bill he introduced was signed into law to authorize a first-in-the-nation truck weight enforcement rule. The law permits an automated enforcement program on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

The automated weigh-in-motion enforcement system of truck weight limits applies to the New York City-owned portions of the expressway.

The New York City Department of Transportation website states that sensors installed on the roadway are synched with license plate cameras to issue citations for vehicles found in violation of the 80,000-pound weight limit.

The department says “the new program will help better enforce existing state laws designed to preserve the life span of the roads and bridges and build upon targeted enforcement efforts by the NYPD.”

In his bill sponsor memo, Gounardes wrote that one reason for the BQE’s crumbling infrastructure is the presence of overweight truck traffic.

The law permits the city to use the weigh-in-motion system in the Queens-bound direction. The system calibrates weight and converts it to state systems.

Overweight trucks are subject to a $650 fine per violation.

Installation of the weigh-in-motion system for the Staten Island-bound direction is expected soon.

OOIDA has sharp criticism of law

The Association questions the program’s safety benefit.

“The New York City Department of Transportation has changed the calibration standards to support their program with no apparent safety benefit,” Morris said.

He added that other states have looked into enforcing weigh-in-motion violations but have found that the weights measured did not fall within scientific weight tolerances or standards.

“The $650 fine for overweight trucks, regardless of whether they are 500 pounds overweight or 5,000 pounds overweight, is arbitrary,” Morris said. “To add insult to injury, the Parking Violations Bureau will adjudicate liability for these violations.”

Additionally, Morris noted that although the bureau says publicly that it will enforce gross weight, its website advises that it also will enforce axle weight violations. LL

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