The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended changes in tractor-trailer design standards to improve truck drivers’ visibility of other vehicles and pedestrians and to improve the side and rear underride protection systems on both tractors and trailers.
The April 3 recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also seek various improvements in safety data related specifically to trailers. NTSB said its recommendations stem from a 2013 NTSB safety study on single-unit trucks and other research that identified issues that apply to tractor-trailers as well.
The recommendations are that NHTSA:
- Require that newly manufactured truck-tractors with gross vehicle weight ratings over 26,000 lbs. be equipped with visibility enhancement systems to improve the ability of drivers of tractor-trailers to detect passenger vehicles and vulnerable road users;
- Require that newly manufactured trailers with gross vehicle weight ratings over 10,000 lbs. be equipped with side underride protection systems;
- Require that newly manufactured truck-tractors with gross vehicle weight ratings over 26,000 lbs. be equipped with side underride protection systems;
- Revise requirements for rear underride protection systems for newly manufactured trailers with gross vehicle weight ratings over 10,000 lbs. to ensure that they provide adequate protection of passenger vehicle occupants from fatalities and serious injuries resulting from full-width and offset trailer rear impacts;
- Add trailer vehicle identification number and trailer model year to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System database for trailers with gross vehicle weight ratings over 10,000 lbs.;
- Work with the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria expert panel to modify the data element titled “Motor Vehicle License Number” to include the trailer license plate number in the next edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Guideline; and
- Work with the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria expert panel to modify the data element titled “Vehicle Identification Number” to include the trailer vehicle identification number in the next edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Guideline.
