There are various ways in which passenger vehicles and tractor trailers can collide. The differences in size and shape of the two types of vehicles make for many possible accident scenarios. One common type of collision is the underride accident. An underride accident occurs when the front of a passenger vehicle goes underneath the trailer of a tractor trailer either from the back or from the side.
Underride accidents are often fatal for the occupants of passenger vehicles. When a car or other passenger vehicle gets underneath the trailer, the top of the vehicle is often torn off. In this horrifying and gruesome manner, drivers and passengers often die or sustain severe injuries to their heads, necks, and upper bodies. Underride accidents cause approximately three hundred and fifty deaths every year in the United States.
There are Department of Transportation regulations which require the bottom edge of rear bumpers on tractor trailers to be less than twenty two inches above the ground. These “bumpers” do not look like the bumpers on passenger vehicles, so you may have seen them and not realized what they were. Rear bumpers on tractor trailers often have an open design made up of a horizontal metal bar which is suspended from the rear of the trailer by two vertical metal bars.
While a bumper which meets the current DOT requirements may make some difference in the outcome of a crash involving a passenger car, compliant bumpers are not always effective in preventing underride accidents. Sometimes, the car can push the bumper forward with a forceful impact, and get under the rear of the trailer. Vehicles traveling at moderate to low speeds can even become wedged underneath the trailer if they hit the bumper off-center, or if they move under the trailer from the side instead of from the rear.
Because the current bumper design requirements are not that effective at preventing underride accidents, various groups have asked the DOT to change the regulations to require larger, stronger bumpers which would be less likely to fail upon impact. Some manufacturers already make their trucks with bumpers which exceed the current DOT regulations. Crash tests on these improved bumpers have shown them to be much more effective at preventing underride accidents. While these self-initiated improvements within the truck manufacturing industry are a step in the right direction, the number of new trucks with improved bumpers on the road is much, much smaller than the amount of trucks with bumpers that meet the current DOT regulations and trucks with bumpers that do not meet the DOT requirements because they are missing or broken.
Underride accidents are just one type of crash which can happen when an eighteen-wheeler and a car collide. If you have been injured or someone that you love has been killed in any type of accident involving an eighteen wheeler, it is important that you seek the aid of an attorney right away. The knowledgeable Kansas City Trucking Accident Attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, L.L.P. help clients from throughout the region, including St. Joseph, Independence, Lees Summit, Columbia, Warrensburg, Overland Park, Olathe, Atchison, Lawrence, Topeka, and many other Kansas and Missouri communities. Please call us today, at (816) 472- 4673 to arrange for an initial consultation.