Consumer groups criticize new NHTSA truck underride protection standard.

For the first time in more than four decades, NHTSA has issued a truck underride protection standard aimed at reducing injuries and deaths--often decapitations--caused by cars sliding under the backs of large trucks and semi-trailers during rear-end collisions. (61 Fed. Reg. 2004 (1996) (to be codified at 49 C.F.R. Pt. 571).)

The new standard will prevent about 15 of the 50 to 60 fatalities a year caused by the rear end of a trailer crashing into the striking vehicle's passenger compartment, according to agency estimates. But critics of the rule--which replaces one issued in 1953--say the measure is too little, too late.

"It's a mixed blessing," said Byron Bloch, an automotive safety design expert who urged NHTSA to adopt stronger safety measures. "We finally have a standard. But with a little bit more courage and foresight, we could have had something better."

The new standard, which becomes effective in 1998, applies only to newly manufactured heavy trucks and trailers--those with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more. These vehicles will have to be fitted with rear guards that extend down to at least 22 inches above the ground. The current standard requires a ground clearance of 30 inches.

Bloch claims that while the new height requirement is an improvement, it is "needlessly deficient" and reflects a compromise with the trucking industry. He said consumer advocates and highway safety groups had lobbied for a height requirement of 16 to 18 inches, which would provide even greater protection from cars sliding under trucks and trailers. But NHTSA acceded to strong industry pressure, according to Bloch.

"The trucking industry argued they would have problems with a lower height, like going up and down curbs and ramps. They said they needed extra clearance. But throughout Europe, many countries require guards to be 18 inches above the ground, and they have no problems," Bloch said.

The standard also includes greater strength and flexibility requirements for rear guards. For example, new guards will have to move at least five inches on impact to better absorb energy from a crash. But these specifications are inadequate to save many lives, according to Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), a highway safety group that unsuccessfully lobbied for stronger, more energy-absorbing guards.

Consumer groups also protested several exemptions for certain categories of vehicles. In addition to limiting compliance to new "heavy" trucks and trailers, NHTSA exempted single-body trucks and trucks equipped with lift gates or other special equipment on the backs of them.

Truck underride protection was the longest-standing unresolved regulatory issue in NHTSA's history, according to CRASH. The agency first proposed a new standard for rear-impact guards in 1969. It was abandoned two years later. Progress on a new rule waxed and waned for the next 25 years before the final standard was issued.

"Many automobile safety innovations take an average of 20 years [from the time they are developed] until we have an opportunity to buy them. We always have a gap of time where people are losing family members needlessly," Bloch said.