How You Can Help

How You Can Help

NHTSA’s Neglect of Underride Protection Deserves Congressional Oversight

CALL TO ACTION

November 2024

Tell Congress that you want them to exercise their oversight of the federal roadway safety agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Call the U.S. Congress Switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and ask for each of the following members of the Senate Commerce Committee. Tell them that you want them to hold an Underride Oversight Hearing in the 2024 lame duck session:

  • Senator Maria Cantwell
  • Senator Gary Peters
  • Senator Ted Cruz
  • Senator Todd Young

This video explains why an oversight hearing is vital: NHTSA’s Neglect of Underride Protection Deserves Congressional Oversight .

Please make these phone calls now. Thank you.

BASIC UNDERRIDE INFORMATION

Note: You can still submit a Public Comment here in support of requiring side guards on all new trucks. Help us to bring this long-overdue rule to the finish line.

June 2023

I know that I can’t be the only person in this country (or the planet for that matter) who would like to see trucks made safer for the pedestrians, bicyclists, and passenger car occupants with whom they share the road. So, for anyone else who would like to help get comprehensive underride protection on trucks in the U.S., here are some ideas:

  1. PBS/Frontline documentary focused on underride will be aired on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 10/9 Central. See the trailer here: America’s Dangerous Trucks. Spread the word!
  2. We launched a new online petition to take advantage of the national attention this broadcast will bring to the hidden problem of underride. Please sign & share: Secretary Pete, It’s Past Time To End Death By Underride!
  3. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes an Underride Section. Now it’s up to the Department of Transportation to complete research and determine whether a side guard regulation is “warranted.” In April, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced members of the Advisory Committee on Underride Protection. The first ACUP meeting was on May 25. This diverse group, with both industry and safety advocates represented, will be making recommendations to Secretary Pete/NHTSA about how to end Death By Underride.
  4. At the same time, NHTSA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for a potential side guard regulation. Add your voice to our message. Submit a Public Comment here in support of requiring side guards on all new trucks. Help us to bring this long-overdue rule to the finish line.

Thank you for being a part of TEAM Underride!

Other ways to be involved:

  • See some of the thousands of underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and #STOPunderrides. To add more information to these stories or to add other underride crashes to be remembered, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com. Please use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form to provide us with accurate information . (Note: the map is currently not online; but we would keep the information for future updating and to aid in underride advocacy efforts.)
  • Support side guard research projects, which will help get affordable and effective side guards on the market.
  • Contact me at stopunderrides@gmail.com or marianne@annaleahmary.com to find out how you can help TEAM Underride make truck crashes more survivable.