WASHINGTON — Trucking regulators have ruled there is not enough evidence to warrant an investigation into whether trailers without side underride guards (SUGs) should be recalled as unsafe.
The Institute for Safer Trucking petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year for an investigation of all dry van semi-trailers due to collisions with passenger vehicles, as well as with pedestrians, bicyclists or motorcyclists, that result in “significant injuries or death” due to a lack of effective SUGs.
The safety group contends that while there currently is no applicable safety standard requiring SUGs, NHTSA has the authority to recall vehicles or equipment that pose an “unreasonable risk” to safety even without a standard on the regulatory books.
But after considering the petition and documentation submitted along with it, NHTSA determined that the safety issues raised are better addressed within a separate SUG rulemaking that is currently under review at the agency.
“Accordingly, NHTSA has decided not to open a defect investigation, and the petition is denied,” the agency ruled in a notice published on Monday.
“The denial of this petition does not foreclose the agency from taking further action if warranted or making a future finding that a safety-related defect exists based upon additional information the agency may receive.”
An underride crash occurs when a truck trailer and a passenger vehicle collide, causing the passenger vehicle to slide under the body of the trailer. Because of the height difference between the two, the passenger vehicle is often crushed, and its passengers injured or killed.
NHTSA upgraded standards for rear underride guards in 2022, but truck safety advocates have been frustrated by a lack of action by the agency on standards for side guards. NHTSA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on SUGs determined that up to $1.2 billion in costs for the trucking industry for a side guard mandate outweighs the benefits of potential lives that could be saved – an estimate that safety advocates say is flawed.
“NHTSA has determined that SUGs are an extremely effective countermeasure intended to mitigate the unreasonable risk of side underride deaths and serious injuries … yet has failed to investigate or act,” wrote Eric Hein, director of the Institute for Safer Trucking, in his recall petition. He noted that several trailer manufacturers have been developing and patenting side underride guards, including Wabash, Great Dane and Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co.
However, without a government recall, “truck and trailer manufacturers and operators will not voluntarily stop the known unreasonable risk to public safety by designing and implementing safer trucks and trailers with effective side underride prevention guards,” Hein stated.
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