Video Shows Side Underride Guards Can Stop Cars from Sliding Under Tractor-Trailers

By Stark & Stark on June 12th, 2017

Posted in Truck & Bus Accident

A new video of crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show how underride guards can prevent passenger vehicles from going underneath the side of a tractor trailer in a collision. Check out the video below*.

The crash tests marked the first time that IIHS has evaluated side underride guards. IIHS reportedly ran two 35-mph crash tests. The first test involved a tractor-trailer with side underride protection device. The second test involved a tractor-trailer fiberglass side skirt intended to improve aerodynamics, not to prevent underride.

In both crash tests, a midsize car struck the center of a 53-foot-long dry van trailer. In the first crash test shown in the video, the car ran into the trailer with no underride guard for protection and kept going underneath it. The impact sheared off part of the roof, and the car became wedged beneath the trailer. In a real-world crash, any occupants in the car would likely sustain fatal injuries.

In the second crash test, the tractor-trailer’s side underride guard did not allow the car to go underneath the trailer, and the car’s airbags and safety belt properly restrained the test dummy in the driver seat. A side underride guard would likely prevent the worst damage and injuries.

IIHS reports that in 2015, 301 of the 1,542 passenger vehicle occupants killed in two-vehicle crashes with a tractor-trailer died when their vehicles struck the side of a tractor-trailer. Federal law requires large trucks to have rear underride guards but not side underride guards.

Read my prior post about side guard safety technology here.

*Special thanks to IIHS for letting us include their video in this post.*

Multiple locations to better serve your needs—

Hamilton, NJ

100 American Metro Boulevard
Hamilton, NJ 08619
Phone: 609.896.9060
Secondary phone: 800.535.3425
Fax: 609.896.0629
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer

Marlton, NJ

40 Lake Center, 401 NJ-73, Suite 130
Marlton, NJ 08053
Phone: 856.874.4443
Secondary phone: 888.241.7424
Fax: 856.874.0133
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer

Yardley, PA

777 Township Line Road, Suite 120
Yardley, PA 19067
Phone: 267.907.9600
Fax: 267.907.9659
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer

New York, NY

5 Pennsylvania Plaza 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 800.535.3425
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer

Philadelphia, PA

The Bellevue 200 S Broad St #600
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 267.907.9600
Secondary phone: 800.535.3425
Fax: 215.564.6245
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer

Bridgeton, NJ

78 W Broad St
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Phone: 856.874.4443
county best pa pennsylvania reviews south jersey berks northhampton montgomery bucks lehigh valley gloucester burlington mercer