NHTSA Weighs Requiring Side Underride Guards

Federal regulators are considering mandatory side underride guards on new trailers and semi-trailers. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that equipping all new trailers and semis with guards would cost between $970 million and $1.2 billion, according to a soon-publishing Federal Register document. 

That estimate does not include additional costs that “accrue due to incremental wear and tear,” nor does it consider the possible effects of increased fuel consumption, reads the document. 

The agency determined in a study that guards would save approximately 17.2 lives each year, according to the document. 

Once published, NHTSA will accept comments from the public to gauge their thoughts. Specifically, the agency “requests comments on approaches to potentially mitigate or eliminate” crashes from cars sliding under a trailer. 

NHTSA also announced the formation of a 16-member Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, which will “make recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on safety regulations related to underride crashes that have caused severe injury and death.”