WASHINGTON — Members of a committee advising Congress on how to reduce truck underride crashes with cars and the resulting deaths took regulators to task for not doing enough to protect against such crashes.
In a 410-page biennial report sent to Congress and to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday, members of the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP) alleged whitewashing within the U.S. Department of Transportation of information that could have been used to inform the rulemaking process on side impact guard requirements for truck trailers.
“It is the assessment of the ACUP that NHTSA excluded relevant data from its cost-benefit analysis for its ANPRM [advance notice of proposed rulemaking] on side impact guards,” stated members of ACUP, which is sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“Disturbing allegations have been made regarding the potential suppression of or interference with publicly funded side-underride guard research by the Volpe Center that needs to be assessed by an impartial investigator. The fact cannot be ignored that very little has changed regarding side underride guard advancements in the last 50 years and no substantial progress has been made by DOT to prevent these horrific crash fatalities and injuries.”