THE National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering new rules that would require underride guards on straight trucks, just one of a series of new proposals the agency is proposing for commercial trucks and trailers.
In a far-reaching advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published July 23, NHTSA also proposed requiring conspicuity tape on straight trucks. The agency also said that more stringent requirements for trailer-mounted underride guards will be published later.
The proposal comes in response to a petition for rulemaking from Marianne Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition last summer. Karth’s two daughters were killed in an underride collision.
In a grant document published a year ago, NHTSA committed to Karth and the Truck Safety Coalition to pursue possible rulemaking through two separate actions. The recent ANPRM, announced July 23, is part of that commitment. In the near future, NHTSA will be issuing the second action, a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to upgrade the FMVSS 223 and 224. Those two standards are the current regulations for underride guards.
Following the crash that took the lives of her two daughters, Karth partnered with the Truck Safety Coalition to ask NHTSA to mandate underride guards on vehicles not currently required to have guards—specifically work trucks. Ironically, NHTSA considered including trucks when developing FMVSS 223 and 224, the dual underride standards that have been in effect since 1998.
NHTSA excluded straight trucks requirements because the agency was concerned that the variety, complexity, and relatively lower weight and chassis strength of many trucks would require guards that are substantially more costly than the guards for trailers. Additionally, accident statistics indicated that the rear end fatality problem was more prominent in trailers than in straight trucks. Statistics at the time showed that straight trucks represented 72% of the registered heavy vehicle fleet but only 27% of rear-end fatalities.
One difference between 1998 and today, NHTSA said in its announcement, is that there are Federal requirements now in place that require some straight trucks to have some degree of rear impact protection (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation No. 393.86(b), “Rear impact guards and rear end protection,” (49 CFR 393.86(b), “FMCSR 393.86(b)”). The regulation requires that guards be installed on trucks engaged in interstate commerce and that carriers keep them maintained throughout the life of the vehicle.
NHTSA would like to see underride guards meet the performance standards of guards currently being mandated in Canada. The corresponding Canadian underride guard regulations (CMVSS 223 and 224) generally are considered more stringent than those in effect in the United States.
Reasons for the proposal
NHTSA provided accident data to build the case for the proposed rulemaking. Those stats, the agency says, indicate that fatalities are still occurring in frontal crashes despite high rates of seat belt use and the presence of air bags and other advanced safety features.
Among the 122 fatalities that the agency recently reviewed, 49 (40 percent) involved severe crashes that were not survivable, 29 (24 percent) were in oblique or corner impact crashes. Oblique or corner crashes are particularly difficult to manage because they impact little of the underride guard.
In survivable frontal crashes of newer vehicle models resulting in fatalities to belted vehicle occupants, rear underrides into large straight trucks and trailers were the second highest cause of fatality.
NHTSA calculated average annual estimates from the 2008 and 2009 database known as Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents and the supplemental information collected in a 2013 study conducted by the University of Michigan.
The agency files found that 3,762 trucks and trailers are involved in fatal accidents annually. Trailers accounted for 2,521 (67%), straight trucks for 1080 (29%), tractor alone for 66 (1.5%), and unknown for the remaining 95 (2.5%).
Trailers with guards represent 36% of annual light vehicle fatal rear impacts but represent 51% of annual light vehicle fatal rear impacts involving protrusion into the passenger compartment. Trucks (with and without guards) represent 32% of annual light vehicle fatal rear impacts but represent 26 percent of annual light vehicle fatal rear impacts with passenger compartment intrusion.
What will it cost?
NHTSA estimates that the minimum to average cost of equipping new covered trucks with CMVSS No. 223 guards will range from $307 to $453 per vehicle and that the total annual fleet cost will range from $105 million to $155 million.
However, that does not include all of the cost associated with the addition of an underride guard, NHTSA points out. The guards will add an estimated 169 to 210 pounds per vehicle. NHTSA estimates that the extra weight will result in $924.7 to $1,505 additional fuel cost over the lifetime of the vehicle. Therefore, the total minimum to average annual cost (including fuel costs) of requiring straight trucks to have CMVSS No. 223 rear impact guards is estimated to be $421 million to $669 million.
And the benefit? NHTSA believes that putting underride guards on medium and heavy trucks will save five or six lives annually—$106.7 million to $164.7 million for each life saved.
The cost per life save far exceeds the threshold set by U S Department of Transportation to determine the cost effectiveness of proposed regulations. DOT sets the value of a “statistical life” at $9.1 million.
“This is a strong indicator that these systems will not be cost effective,” the agency writes in its ANPRM.
Let them know
Other costs are involved in the proposal, and NHTSA seeks input from those who might know. Among the things NHTSA wants to find out:
• The cost of strengthening the rear beams, frame rails, and floor of the vehicle to accommodate the guard and the additional costs resulting from these changes.
• The weight of additional material needed to strengthen the rear beams, frame rails, and floor of the vehicle.
• The cost of the reduced payload resulting from increased tare weight.
• How operations of the truck will be affected.
• How the aerodynamics of the truck will be affected.
The public has until September 21 to communicate its views. Comments can be sent to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov or mailed to:
Docket Management Facility, M-30 U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. ♦
