Researchers crash cars into truck trailers in effort to stop underride deaths
by CanadianManufacturing.com Staff
Engineers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) put truck underride guards to the test
ARLINGTON, Va.—Engineers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) put truck underride guards to the test at the Institute’s crash test facility in Ruckersville, Va.
The IIHS, an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization that’s trying to reduce crash deaths,spend the video driving 2010 Chevy Malibou sedans into the back of transport truck trailers weighed down with more than 30,000 lbs. pf concrete.
The results aren’t pretty, but make for interesting viewing.
Underride guards are steel bars that hang from the backs of semitrailers to keep smaller vehicles from sliding underneath in a crash. When they don’t work, the consequences can be deadly.
“Inside IIHS: Understanding underride” explains that IIHS embarked on this program after researchers found that underride crashes continued to kill people in passenger vehicles despite big improvements in crash protection. That’s because a passenger vehicle’s structure and airbags can’t do their job when underride occurs.
The embedded video shows how the tests were conducted and explains the results, which demonstrated that most trailers still need better guards.For more videos, visit the IIHS youtube channel
