Truck safety legislation put forward

TOMORROW: AS MILLIONS OF AMERICANS GEAR UP FOR HOLIDAY ROAD TRAVEL TO VISIT FAMILY AND FRIENDS, SENATOR GILLIBRAND, REPRESENTATIVE COHEN TO ANNOUNCE BIPARTISAN, BICAMERAL LEGISLATION TO HELP KEEP DRIVERS SAFE FROM FATAL TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK ACCIDENTS Underride Accidents Happen When Cars Slide Under Tractor Trailer Trucks, Often Resulting in Decapitation of Car Passengers Bipartisan Legislation Introduced by Senators Gillibrand and Rubio and Representative Cohen Would Prevent Deadly Truck Underride Accidents, Which Have Claimed Thousands of Lives Across the Country Washington, DC –TOMORROW, Tuesday, December 12th, at 10:15 AM EDT in SVC 212, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Steve Cohen will be joined by families of truck underride crash victims and truck safety advocates to announce bipartisan legislation, the Stop Underrides Act of 2017, to prevent deadly truck underride crashes. Gillibrand is introducing this bipartisan legislation in the Senate with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). An ‘underride crash’ is when a car slides under the body of a large truck, such as a semi-trailer, during an accident. When these accidents happen, a car’s safety features are not able to protect passengers because most of the car slides under the trailer and the truck crashes straight through the windows and into the passengers. The passengers in the car often suffer severe head and neck injuries, including decapitation on impact with the truck. These accidents are often fatal, even at low speeds. Studies and pilot programs show that a simple barrier attached to the lower area of a truck, called an ‘underride guard’, would help to prevent a car from sliding underneath a truck in an accident. Under current federal law, underride guards are not required to be on the sides or front of trucks. Underride guards are already required for the back of a truck, but the standards are outdated. Gillibrand and Rubio’s legislation would require underride guards on the sides and front of a truck and update the outdated standards for underride guards on the back of trucks. It would also ensure that the annual inspection for all large trucks include underride guards as part of the inspection and require the Department of Transportation to review underride standards every five years to evaluate the need for changes in response to advancements in technology.