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IIHS released a series of crash tests yesterday that showed the benefits of underride guards on the sides of semis.
They have underride guards on the rear of semis, they were mandated in 1998 (which is inexcusably late, they should have been mandated by 1975 at the latest, but at least they're mandated now).
They've had the technology to make side underride guards for at least 50 years now. We live in the year 2017, where the majority of cars on the road have at least six airbags and good crash test ratings. Yet we live in a world where the bottom of semi trailers are at windshield height, above the life saving crumple zone of a car, and are totally unprotected. It's not that hard to put a side underride guard on a semi. There's no excuse for them to have not been mandatory in 1987, let alone 2017.
LOL crumple zones being "safe"
Buy a truck or pay attention when you drive and this won't be an issue...
I draft off big rigs.
Then again from 16 to 27 I was racing stock cars on dirt so...
As for when I'm on a bike I don't allow a rig near me on the highway. I see one coming I pick up the pace and if possible change lanes.
The rear bumbers on trucks were lowered a few years back, to save drivers with rear end accidents.
There should be a side bumper for under the truck. Slipping under the trailer , no matter the airbag count, always has a pancaked outcome.
Truck drivers have added long spiked lug nuts to give drivers an extra warning. But as a driver, have some confidence passing big rigs, and stay out of their way! These are mostly professional drivers, and they dont want to end up with a bloody work day.
IIHS released a series of crash tests yesterday that showed the benefits of underride guards on the sides of semis.
They have underride guards on the rear of semis, they were mandated in 1998 (which is inexcusably late, they should have been mandated by 1975 at the latest, but at least they're mandated now).
They've had the technology to make side underride guards for at least 50 years now. We live in the year 2017, where the majority of cars on the road have at least six airbags and good crash test ratings. Yet we live in a world where the bottom of semi trailers are at windshield height, above the life saving crumple zone of a car, and are totally unprotected. It's not that hard to put a side underride guard on a semi. There's no excuse for them to have not been mandatory in 1987, let alone 2017.
Because back then we didn't have as much idiots in hondas tailgating and cutting off big trucks The increase of stupidity on the road these days is why these safety features exist. Now with idiots looking down at cell phones and driving these DOT bars are needed more then ever.
That was demonstrated perfectly in "Smoky and the Bandit". Check it out.
If you watch to movie that was a modified trailer they used, although there was one movie where they slid a motorcycle under a trailer and then rode it away.
As far as real life it's really a cost/benefit thing, side guards on a truck would only really be helpful if the car "t-boned" the truck. I doesn't happen that often, whereas the rear under ride guard has probably prevented a lot of decapitations. It was removed for "The French Connection", where Roy Scheider rear ended a truck.
1. Building a frame under a semi-trailer that would stop a vehicle would be expensive.
2. Such a frame would also be heavy. Every pound added to the empty weight of a trailer is a pound of paying freight that can not be loaded in/on it. Less paying freight means less profit for the operator, which means freight rates may have to be raised to compensate. Such rate increases will ultimately be passed on to the consumer of the goods hauled
3. With cars being made smaller and smaller, and lower and lower, there will come a point where the side guard frame will be so low that the trailer will be in danger of getting "high-centered" on a speed bump. How low should they go?
Perhaps the solution is to make all trailer frames no more than 12 inches off the ground. Yeah, that will work; make all trailers "lo-boys". Some heavy-hauler flatbed trailers are already built that way, there is no reason that all them can't be built low, regardless of configuration. Sure, it might require new methods of loading and unloading, and loading docks would have to be rebuilt, but, y'know, "If it saves one life"...
They could put them at the same height as the rear underride guards. And of course they wouldn't have to be ultra strong; I'm not expecting a guard that can stop a Suburban going 80 mph. But a midsize sedan going 30 mph, that should be doable. A structure that can stop a midsize sedan at 30 mph isn't unreasonable, they've been able to do that for many years.
But a semi truck to a car is the same weight ratio as a car to a motorcycle so anything that can be done to make semis less harmful to cars is beneficial.
And I'm not a bad driver. I've had my license for 5 years, have a 92 mile/day commute, and have never had a ticket or a wreck
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wawa1992
They could put them at the same height as the rear underride guards. And of course they wouldn't have to be ultra strong; ... anything that can be done to make semis less harmful to cars is beneficial.
And I'm not a bad driver. I've had my license for 5 years, have a 92 mile/day commute, and have never had a ticket or a wreck
Keep up the good driving, and STAY out of the trucker's bind spots https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...vHCkwQ9QEIJzAA
(never pass on the right, never stay next to a truck when you can get clear, don't get BELOW the drivers limited vision in FRONT of his High Hood and Bumper!! (a lady in a Datsun (Nissan) got cross-ways in front of a truck and was pushed a mile before trucker pull over to check why their was a trail of rubber smoke behind him.... another situation had a guy in a wheel chair being pushed down the highway @ 50 mph by the front bumper of a semi...
FedEx provided the Smith training for me, I passed it on to my kids.
It really is very basic and VERY good! (Also in the Commercial Driving portion they stress NEVER to back. Fed-Ex and UPS avoid backing when ever possible (some cases Left Turns across traffic and backing is forbidden), and if you MUST... do it on arrival (when you know what is going on around you).) Everyday the parking lot at terminal was checked and private cars NOT backed in got a warning and escalation to manager.
3m accident free miles (Commercial) so far.... I have never crunched a car under my trailer (that I know of...) Never found a Honda stuck between my duals (yet)
Do be cautious... "Life is Fragile- Handle with care." My racing motorcycle sported that sticker on the rear fender...giving fair warning to those BEHIND!
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The increase of stupidity on the road these days is why these safety features exist. Now with idiots looking down at cell phones and driving these DOT bars are needed more then ever.
) Never found a Honda stuck between my duals
