Rear impact guards

Wabash National hit with $462M verdict in trailer equipment case

Wabash National is evaluating its options in response to a $462 million verdict against the truck trailer manufacturer by a jury in Missouri state court. The case involves a fatal crash of a car into the back of a truck in 2019 in which two people in the car were killed.

The St. Louis jury reached their verdict – which includes $450 million in punitive damages and $6 million each to the families of the two victims in compensatory damages – after three hours of deliberations following a two-week...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wabash-national-hit-with-462m-verdict-in-trailer-equipment-case

NHTSA defends new standard for truck trailer underride guards

Truck trailer with rear impact guard

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is upgrading safety standards on rear underride protection on tractor trailers to help prevent crashes involving passenger vehicles, but safety advocates say the changes do not go far enough.

Rear underride crashes occur when a passenger vehicle strikes the back of a generally larger vehicle and the front end of the passenger vehicle slides under the rear end of the larger vehicle.

In extreme underride crashes involving tractor trailers, the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nhtsa-defends-new-standard-for-truck-trailer-underride-guards

FMCSA will require annual inspections of rear impact guards

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will require that rear impact guards be included on the list of items that must be examined as part of annual inspections of commercial motor vehicles.

The final rule, scheduled to be published Tuesday and which goes into effect Dec. 9, follows recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2019 and a petition from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance seeking the change.

“While [federal regulations] have required rear impact...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-will-require-annual-inspections-of-rear-impact-guards

Rear underride guards to be included in annual inspections

Federal regulators want to update safety standards by including rear underride guards on the list of items that must be examined as part of required annual inspections for every truck.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed rulemaking, scheduled to be published on Tuesday, follows recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office last year and a petition from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance seeking the change.

Federal regulations have required rear...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rear-underride-guards-to-be-included-in-annual-inspections