Latest news with #Toughguard
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Insurance group approves first container chassis crash guard
A container chassis designed by Stoughton Trailers has received the first award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for protection against rear underride crashes. A rear underride guard is a metal frame attached to the back of a semitrailer to prevent passenger cars from sliding beneath the trailer in the event of a rear-end crash. Underride guards that meet IIHS's safety criteria are more likely than others to withstand an impact, reducing the severity of the crash. Wisconsin-based Stoughton had previously earned the award for its dry vans and refrigerated vans. Now the company's 53-foot intermodal chassis – which carry shipping containers directly transferred from ships or railcars – also meets IIHS's 'Toughguard' criteria, the insurance group announced on Thursday. 'We're excited about the commitment that Stoughton has shown to preventing underride crashes,' said IIHS President David Harkey in a statement. 'Improving the safety of commercial vehicles is a key part of our 30×30 strategy, which targets a 30% reduction in road fatalities by 2030.' IIHS pointed out that in 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration updated federal regulations governing rear underride protection on large trucks. However, 'the new rule remains far less stringent than the Toughguard requirements and is not expected to push manufacturers to improve,' IIHS contends. Stoughton was among the earliest trailer manufacturers to earn the group's Toughguard safety award for its dry vans and refrigerated trailers in 2017. To date, nine North American trailer manufacturers, including the eight largest, have earned the awards. NHTSA side underride analysis slammed by safety, insurance advocates Trump's NHTSA nominee raises concerns among truck safety advocates US chassis makers allege foreign dumping again Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher. The post Insurance group approves first container chassis crash guard appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
FMCSA refuses correction request on side underride guards on trailers
WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ruled that it is not obligated to correct a federally funded study that a major insurance group believes underestimates the safety benefits of side underride guards on truck trailers. In its request for the correction filed in December, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said that FMCSA's exclusion of a crucial cost-benefit analysis in a review of side-underride studies puts at risk IIHS' reputation for providing independent, data-driven information to its members. IIHS explained that it created a 'Toughguard' award to encourage trailer manufacturers to design rear underride guards that provide more protection for rear-end crashes than those designed to minimum regulatory requirements. 'Currently, IIHS is considering a new award for side underride guards based on our own analyses of real-world crashes as well as crash tests of an aftermarket design,' the group told FMCSA. 'The suppression of the [cost-benefit data] undermines this effort and could result in IIHS being seen as lacking justification for a side guard award. This could damage our reputation as a trustworthy, objective organization committed to public safety, weakening our position when advocating for all types of traffic safety improvements. And it could discourage trailer manufacturers from offering side underride guards that could prevent hundreds of fatalities and even more severe injuries each year.' FMCSA was not swayed. In a response letter published on Thursday, the agency pointed out that, based on federal criteria for information quality, IIHS 'has the burden of proof with respect to establishing the necessity for correction. The IIHS has not met this burden and FMCSA has determined that there is no inconsistency' regarding the exclusion of the cost-benefit data. 'FMCSA has determined that no correction is necessary.' FreightWaves reached out to IIHS for comment. The determination made by FMCSA is the second setback for side-guard safety advocates in less than a month. In March, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled there was insufficient evidence in a petition submitted by the Institute for Safer Trucking to warrant an investigation into whether truck trailers without side underride guards should be recalled as unsafe. Side underride guards can prevent passenger cars from sliding underneath trailers and injuring or killing the occupants. After considering the petition, NHTSA determined that the issues raised by the safety group are better addressed in a separate underride guard rulemaking currently under review at the agency. FMCSA listed several reasons explaining why the cost-benefit analysis cited by IIHS, which was part of a report issued by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center and paid for by the Department of Transportation, was ultimately left out of FMCSA's review. The analysis, according to the agency, 'overestimated the target population without detailing the source of the estimate, overestimated the effectiveness of LPDs [lateral protection devices] in various crash scenarios (including pedestrian and bicyclist impacts with the cab and front of the vehicle where no LPD is present), and underestimated the cost of LPDs, installation and maintenance cost, and additional fuel cost due to the added weight of LPDs.' Also, the methodology used in the Volpe report 'included incidents in which the vulnerable road user was struck at an impact location where LPDs would not be present, such as by the front of the commercial motor vehicle,' FMCSA asserted. 'Therefore, the analysis would result in an over-estimation of the target population associated with LPDs, thereby leading to a significant over-estimation of the benefits.' NHTSA nominee raises concerns among truck safety advocates NHTSA committee blasts DOT in truck underride report NHTSA denies crash victim families' request for truck rear-guard probe Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher. The post FMCSA refuses correction request on side underride guards on trailers appeared first on FreightWaves.
