Truck Accident Underride Risks

KENNESAW, Georgia. Underride truck accidents are among the most-deadly truck accidents on the road. When these kinds of accidents occur, passenger vehicles sometimes get lodged beneath the truck, resulting in death and serious injury to passengers. Underride accidents can strip off a passenger vehicle’s passenger compartment or crush the compartment when it slides under the truck.

Trucks are required to have rear-end underride guards, which prevent passenger vehicles from sliding beneath a truck in an accident. Yet, the federal government doesn’t require trucks to have side guards. And even when trucks have rear guards installed, sometimes the guards are not strong enough to prevent a car from sliding under the vehicle. According to NPR, some families are fighting to increase standards of truck underride guards to ensure that they hold up in the event of a crash and also ask that Congress pass laws that would require trucks to have side guards.

The implementation of these safety standards may be more important than ever. According to Wired, accident reports involving self-driving cars indicate that rear-end collisions are among the most common type of accident. Autonomous technology is still being studied, but it appears that self-driving cars don’t always behave in ways that human drivers can predict. This can lead to more rear-end collisions. While a rear-end collision involving two passenger vehicles may not result in a major accident, a rear-end collision involving a truck can be quite serious, and even deadly. As researchers study the potential impact that autonomous vehicles might have on the road, the hope is that they will consider the unique risks that trucks pose to passenger vehicles before permitting autonomous trucks on the road. For example, it isn’t clear whether federal safety standards will require autonomous trucks to have underride guards on all sides. However, if recent research is any warning, it appears that trucks should be required to have these safety features before any autonomous vehicles are permitted on the road.

Not all trucks have side impact underride guards and many in the truck industry believe that other safety initiatives, like automatic braking safety features will make trucks safer. Yet, if the research on autonomous vehicle accidents are any indication, having a computer in charge of truck braking might actually make trucks less predictable to other drivers on the road and possibly increase the risk of rear-end collisions. When you add distracted driving to the mix, it appears that one of the unintended consequences of automatic braking features might be more rear-end collision accidents.

The issues are complex. There are many ways in which autonomous technology might make cars safer. As it stands, truck drivers and passenger vehicle drivers are ultimately responsible for any accidents that take place. Autonomous vehicles are only permitted on roads in limited circumstances and even in these cases they are required to have back up human drivers behind the wheel. Have you been in an accident involving a truck? Amanda Hall Injury Law is a Kennesaw, Georgia truck accident lawyer who works closely with families and victims whose lives have been impacted by truck accidents. Our firm may be able to seek justice for your family and help you seek damages for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. 

Amanda Hall Injury Law
145 Towne Lake Pkwy, Ste 200
Woodstock Ga 30188
678-445-7423