Underride Crashes Kill Hundreds Each Year. What Causes Them?

If you have ever felt intimidated by a semi tractor-trailer looming in the lane beside you on the highway, there’s a reason. Your sedan or small passenger car is tiny compared to the height, width and length of a semi.

This size difference can lead to underride crashes. They are often fatal and occur when a smaller vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist ends up underneath a semi-trailer. When a car collides with and goes under a semi, its passenger compartment can be crushed, killing or seriously injuring whoever is inside.

Over the past 70 years, the federal government has researched and standardized underride prevention equipment, yet these wrecks continue to kill hundreds of people each year.

What Causes Underride Crashes?

There are three main types of semi-trailer underride: front, rear and side. Negligent behavior by truck drivers can endanger passenger vehicles and cause each type of underride.

Side Underride

These accidents commonly affect small passenger vehicles, as well as cyclists and pedestrians. Victims and/or their vehicles become trapped underneath the trailer in the large gap between the wheels. Here’s how.

• A semi driver backing his trailer, especially at night, when it is harder to see the trailer.
• When a semi-trailer jackknifes, its trailer can swing out and suddenly block a lane of travel.
• A truck driver turning across a lane of travel.
• Large trucks making U-turns.
• Semi-truck drivers running stop signs or traffic lights and obstructing cross traffic.

Rear Underride

This is the most common type of underride. It is also the only one that federal transportation regulations seek to prevent. There are various causes.

• Semis backing up improperly without a spotter guiding them.
• Large trucks parking on the side of the road, especially at night, when they are less visible.
• Trucks traveling dangerously slow in traffic without warning signals or hazard lights.
• Emergency/sudden stopping, causing following vehicles to collide with the trailer and ride under.
• A tractor-trailer losing its load or experiencing a mechanical failure, leading to it slowing or stopping without warning.

Front Underride

In this situation, semi-trucks can rear-end a smaller vehicle or hit it head on. Like side underride, front underride is not currently prevented or mitigated with federally required protection devices. So, here’s what to watch out for.

• Semi-trucks running stop signs or traffic lights.
• A truck crossing the center line and veering toward oncoming traffic.
• Large trucks following too closely and rear-ending passenger vehicles.
• A truck driver traveling too fast for road conditions or traffic (especially on ice, snow, rain, or in work zones).

What to Know About Underride Crashes Between Trucks and Cars

Data from NHTSA show that about 400 people die in these wrecks each year, but this number is likely incorrect. The Institute for Safer Trucking reported in 2022 that only 17 states have an underride field on their police accident reports. This means that underride crashes are vastly underreported in 33 out of 50 states. Indiana, Ohio and Missouri all lack underride fields on police accident reports.

Some studies have failed to acknowledge vulnerable road users, like bicyclists and pedestrians. According to the Safer Trucking Report, no pedestrian or bicyclist death in 2020 was coded as involving underride. This, however, is misleading; a U.S. Department of Transportation research center found that nearly half of all bicyclists and pedestrian large-truck deaths are caused by underride.

The History of Underride Guards

Underride crashes and preventative equipment are not new developments. In fact, federal underride standards were first introduced in 1953. The Bureau of Motor Carriers said that heavy trucks must be equipped with rear-end guards to prevent underride. At that time, there was no strength requirement.

Several studies between 1997 and 2012 showed that:

• Underride fatalities were underreported.
• Underride guards meeting federal requirements still largely failed to prevent injury and death.
• Even in low-speed crashes, legal underride guards could fail.
• Side underride guards could reduce injury in 75% of crashes.

Underride guards are typically made of steel bars that hang from the front, sides, or, most often, rear of large trailers. They are meant to absorb the energy of an impact to stop the colliding object from riding beneath the trailer.

In the 70 years between the first federal underride safety standard and today, various entities have urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to strengthen its requirements —mostly unsuccessfully.

Underride Crash in St. Louis: Will Change Follow?

In May 2019, two young men were killed in an underride crash in St. Louis. This September, a jury awarded their families a $462 million verdict: $450 million in punitive damages and $12 million in compensatory damages. Although our firm was not involved in this lawsuit, we hope that this verdict will bring about changes in the industry.

The trailer under which these men died belonged to Wabash, an Indianapolis-based trailer manufacturer. Wabash is being held responsible for the deaths. The trailer was equipped with a rear underride guard, but it was not strong enough to withstand the impact of a vehicle driving 55 miles per hour.

The plaintiffs’ attorney said that the underride guards on the Wabash trailer were designed to prevent underrides at 30 miles per hour. However, these trailers drive on highways, where the minimum speed limit is 40 miles per hour, and the maximum is 65.

It may surprise most people that this underride guard complied with federal standards. It is a tragic example of inadequate safety standards by the Department of Transportation.

Is it Possible to Eliminate Underride?

According to the Truck Safety Coalition, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended side, front and rear guards on commercial motor vehicles for 10 years. Rear impacts and side impacts made up 20% and 15%, respectively, of all fatal collisions between large trucks and passenger vehicles in 2019, NHTSA reported.

These accidents continue to occur, and truck-wreck fatalities have consistently increased throughout the past 15 years.

In June 2020, NHTSA updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to strengthen the effectiveness of rear underride guards in multiple crash scenarios. It included a plan to research side underride guards and educate police departments on underride crashes.

Some organizations have developed guards that they say are safer than the ones mandated by the government. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s “TOUGHGUARD” award is given to guards that prevent underride in full-width, 50% overlap, and 30% overlap crashes. It has also tested the AngelWing guard, which can protect cars driving up to 40 miles per hour from side underride.

Final Thoughts

Our law firm has handled numerous underride guard cases. Unfortunately, these are often death cases or involve catastrophic injuries. We handled one in Missouri where our client suffered a major brain injury and will spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. Fortunately, we were able to obtain a settlement from the company that installed the rear underride guard.

These cases can be difficult and expensive. It is important that, if your family has one of these cases, you hire an experienced law firm with the resources to hire the right experts.

If you or someone you know suffered serious injury in a wreck caused by a semi or other heavy truck, you will need to consult an experienced truck wreck attorney. Underride crashes can be catastrophic, and it is important to hold trucking companies accountable when they fail to use precautions.

Contact Craig, Kelley & Faultless today for a free consultation. Reach us at (800) 746-0226 or online.

David W. Craig sits on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (which requires the board certification in truck accident law). He is the managing partner and one of the founding partners of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is recognized as a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer and Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers, as well as a Top 50 Indiana lawyer by Super Lawyers. David is the author of Semitruck Wreck, A Guide for Victims and Their Families, written to help people navigate a terrible situation by answering questions that come after a tragic wreck. He also hosts the podcast After the Crash, where you can gain valuable information about the dangers involving semis and large trucks that do not follow Indiana law safety protocol regarding speed, weather conditions, maintenance upkeep, etc.