Inadequate guards contributes to Ohio truck accidents

There are different kinds of truck accidents that can happen on our nation’s roadways, including in Ohio. A common truck accident involves a collision between a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle. Another type of truck accident case is where a tractor-trailer rear-ends a leading vehicle. Such crashes usually lead to catastrophic injuries, property damages and fatalities.

Aside from these, there are also many underride crashes. An underride truck accident occurs when a passenger vehicle runs into the back of a tractor-trailer that is installed with a weak underride guard. This type of truck accident is becoming more and more common, posing hazards for many drivers and residents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was concerned about the dangers of underride crashes. In fact, the federal agency implemented a rule considering new standards for rear underride guards installed on semi-trailers, single unit straight trucks and trailers. Several studies were conducted to highlight the hazards posed by weak underride guards.

One study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in 2011. IIHS placed trailers from eight of the largest manufacturers through a series of crash tests. All trailers had installed underride guards that met the current U.S. standards. After the analysis, it was concluded that the dimensions and minimum strength of underride guards on those trailers were inadequate. The guards have the tendency to fail when it comes to relatively-low speed crashes. IIHS research led to proposals that address the inadequateness of tractor-trailers’ underride guards.

According to a 2012 study by the IIHS, a smaller sample of fatal truck accidents indicated that 82 percent of them were rear underride crashes. Eighty-eight percent involved collisions in the side of the large truck while 63 percent were associated with collisions with the front of the truck.

Source: IIHS.org, “NHTSA signals plan to address deaths in underride crashes,” accessed on Jan. 6, 2014