HR7354-119

What This Bill Does

This bill responds to truck underride crashes, where a passenger vehicle or vulnerable road user travels underneath a truck or trailer. It requires DOT to finalize, within 18 months, new or updated motor-vehicle safety standards requiring side underride guards on new trailers, semitrailers, and single-unit trucks. The side guards must prevent intrusion into the occupant survival space in perpendicular crashes up to and including 40 mph, impede vulnerable road users from passing under the side of the vehicle, and integrate aerodynamic design or fuel-efficiency components. Compliance must be required within two years after the final regulations, and DOT must review the standards at least every five years. The bill also reconvenes and expands the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection to include families of crash victims, requires monthly virtual meetings until final rules are issued, creates a public DOT underride-resource website updated quarterly, directs NASEM to study front underride crashes, directs GAO to study rear-impact-guard implementation, and requires NHTSA to review FARS underride reporting and develop free web-based training for state and local law enforcement.

Who Benefits and How

Passenger vehicle occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, other vulnerable road users, families of underride crash victims, traffic-safety advocates, researchers, and law-enforcement crash investigators benefit from stronger guard standards, more transparent research, improved crash data, and formal advisory representation. Aerodynamic guard suppliers and safety-equipment manufacturers may gain demand if new side-guard standards are finalized.

Who Bears the Burden and How

DOT, NHTSA, trailer manufacturers, semitrailer manufacturers, single-unit truck manufacturers, trucking companies buying new equipment, underride-guard suppliers, the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection, NASEM, GAO, state law enforcement agencies, and local law enforcement agencies must absorb rulemaking, manufacturing, testing, meeting, research, reporting, and training burdens.

Key Provisions

• Requires DOT to finalize side-underride guard standards within 18 months for new trailers, semitrailers, and single-unit trucks.
• Requires side guards to prevent occupant-space intrusion at closing speeds up to 40 mph, impede vulnerable road users, and integrate aerodynamic or fuel-efficiency design.
• Requires full compliance within two years after final regulations and recurring DOT reviews at least every five years.
• Reconvenes and expands the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection to include families of passenger-vehicle and vulnerable-road-user crash victims and requires monthly meetings until final rules issue.
• Directs DOT to publish quarterly updated underride research and resource materials, NASEM to study front underride crashes, GAO to study rear-impact-guard implementation, and NHTSA to improve FARS reporting and law-enforcement training.