DEVELOPMENT OF NEW UNDERRIDE GUARDS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN TRUCKS AND CARS

As a consequence of the lack of effective rear underride guards attached to trucks, trailers and semi-trailers, rear underride crashes are responsible for thousands of deaths every year throughout the world. In an attempt to reverse this situation, cooperative work was started between a Brazilian university and local car and truck industries, whose main goals were to design, construct and test reliable underride guards and to present solutions to government authorities. To meet these goals, to date two new retractile underride guards have been designed and three crash tests carried out. Based on the results obtained so far, the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) has elaborated a new Brazilian standard for rear underride guards.