Will New Legislation Make Semi-Trucks Safer?

Side-underride crashes are among the most deadly types of automobile accidents. They occur when a passenger vehicle—that is, a car or hatchback or minivan or some such— collides with the side of a semi-truck, and then slides under the truck. What often happens, as one can readily imagine, is that the truck’s wheels then obliterate the passenger vehicle. This is not unlike a shark feasting on smaller prey.

Recently, congress proposed a bill that aims at reducing the incidence of such accidents. Specifically, lawmakers want to mandate the implementation of guardrails along the sides of trucks. These rails would extend the body of a truck, making it lower to the ground and therefore harder for cars to slide beneath.

The trucking industry is somewhat opposed to the measure, however. It would increase the price of business. As such, they have an interest in keeping trucks as they are.

A brief history of side guards

Side-underride crashes kill hundreds of people each year. They take place most frequently at night, or during “low sun-angle conditions” that make it hard to see. According to Truck Forensics, collisions usually take place “when a truck driver either is attempting to cross or turn onto a street or highway, is attempting a u-turn, or is trying to back across traffic.” That is, in scenarios when a truck driver’s vision is more limited, and when his or her attention might be more focused on the logistics of maneuvering than on the surrounding vehicles.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a recommendation to the national government that all new trucks be outfitted with side guardrails in 2014. But the recommendation was nonbinding and has gone more or less unheeded. This is in large part because of industry opposition. The Truck Trailer Manufacturer’s Association, for example, has argued against the requirement, because of “added cost, technical challenges and concern that the guards would weaken parts of a trailer or dangerously increase their weight.”

This despite the fact that the NTSB concluded guard rails would “reduce injuries and deaths on America’s roads.” Perhaps, with a bit of legislative effort, such a reality can come to pass.