Rear Underride Protection
What is Rear Underride Protection?
Rear underride protections, or guards, are built into trailers to prevent smaller vehicles from sliding underneath in a collision. These guards are crucial for saving lives and reducing the severity of crashes between passenger vehicles and large trucks.
Facts on Rear Underride Protection
Underride crashes often bypass passenger vehicle safety features like airbag deployment sensors and crumple zones, leading to passenger compartment intrusion and devastating injuries.
The true extent of underride crash injuries and fatalities is undercounted due to incomplete police accident reports in some states and low awareness among law enforcement about identifying underride crashes.
Status of Rear Underride Protection
Rear underride guards have been required by law on most trailers since the 1953.
Rear underride guards are not required by law on single unit trucks.
Since 2017, the eight largest trailer manufacturers in the U.S. produce guards that meet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s TOUGHGUARD criteria, which would prevent rear underride crashes at speeds of up to 35mph,
The federal standard for rear guards on trailers was recently strengthened to meet most of the TOUGHGUARD standard. The new standard does not require guards to prevent underride in crashes at speeds of up to 35mph in which there is a 30 percent overlap between the striking vehicles and the trailer.