Rear underride 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 denies crash victim families’ request for truck rear-guard probe

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have declined a request by parents of children killed in truck crashes to open an investigation into defective truck equipment designed to prevent fatalities in collisions with automobiles.

In denying petition filed in 2022 by Jerry and Marianne Karth, Eric Hein, and Lois Durso-Hawkins, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled that the issues raised “are best addressed through its recent rulemaking and the ongoing actions” undertaken by NHTSA as...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nhtsa-denies-crash-victim-families-request-for-truck-rear-guard-probe

Safety groups urge NHTSA to reconsider underride guard rule

Back of truck on highway.

A coalition of safety groups want federal regulators to postpone a recent rule on truck-trailer performance standards until the new regulation can be significantly improved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation, scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 11, 2023, is “fatally flawed,” the safety groups assert, because it failed to consider crucial data on crashes in which passenger cars slide under the rear end of tractor-trailers due to insufficient protection on the back of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/safety-groups-urge-nhtsa-to-reconsider-underride-guard-rule

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