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Comment by Schnitz | Hacker News Reader

Europe has mandatory underride guards for this reason since 20+ years ago.

50 years in Germany: A rear underride guard was made mandatory in Germany by a 1973 law for vehicles registered on or after 1 January 1975 with a carriage height of 55 cm or more above ground.

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterfahrschutz_(Nutzfahrzeug)... (in German)

27 years ago in the US:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2004/11/05/04-2473...

...and then updated two years later.

Still watered down to the point of near uselessness in order to placate the trucking industry lobbyists.

I believe Europe has required side underride guards since the 1990s.

They're called Mansfield bars in the US, named after the actress Jane Mansfield who died after colliding with a trailer. They're not required federally and not particularly effective as they're generally not inspected or maintained.

It's bonkers that the US named them but don't require them. They're called Mansfield Bars in the UK too, presumably because there isn't really a better or more descriptive name you can give them.

There's probably an "official" name in some dusty Ministry of Transport document like "side protection collision bar" or some such, and TÜV probably calls it something like "Seitenaufprallschutzgerätüberlaufschutzausrüstung" or some damn thing.

> TÜV probably calls it something like ..

Hinterer Unterfahrschutz

Oh, looks like I got that wrong. Rear bars are required, but the US standards are well lower than the Canadian ones and periodic inspection isn't required.

https://www.trucknews.com/features/are-standards-for-trailer...

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/iihs-recognizes-semitrailer...

The US has them, but I think it's only on the rear of the trailer. A quick image search shows guards on the sides of European trailers, which would have been helpful in the crash from the article.

The article does talk about US rear underride guards as well, but notes that they were inadequate for many years. I've driven past a hastily draped over fatality from such a collision in the 2000s and have kept a wide berth from trailers since.

Thanks, I was going to ask just this question.

Maybe it was just my perception, but I remember driving in Germany (long time ago) and noting how trucks seemed to be driving at a reasonable speed over in the right lane.

Very different from highways in the US where trucks typically drive as if they were just another sedan on the road.

I really thought this was missing in the article. I understand that it's about the situation in the US, but at the very least a comparative analysis could've been made how the US regulatory environment differs from others around the world.

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