NHTSA seeks to prevent ‘underride’ crashes involving trucks

Washington – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has spelled out plans to require rear-impact guards on single-unit vehicles such as dump trucks, garbage haulers, concrete mixers and delivery trucks, according to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking released July 17.

NHTSA also seeks to require reflective material on the rear and sides of single-unit trucks to make the vehicles more visible to other drivers and help prevent underride crashes.

Requiring rear-impact guards on such vehicles could save five lives and prevent 30 injuries every year, NHTSA says. Meanwhile, a requirement for reflective material could save up to 14 lives per year.

“If we can raise the public’s awareness of large trucks and help trucks be more visible to others on the road, we can reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in underride crashes – or prevent these crashes from happening in the first place,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in a press release.