Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A driver was flown by helicopter to a hospital after being injured in a three-vehicle collision involving a tractor trailer in Pennsylvania. As the injured woman's car allegedly changed from the left to right lane, it was hit from behind by a Fed-Ex box truck and then hit the back of a tractor trailer. The woman's car was smashed in between both vehicles, and she was left pinned in between them.

The FMCSA implements rear impact guard standards and rear end protection for commercial vehicles, like tractor trailers, to avoid the serious injuries that may occur when a tractor trailer is rear-ended, such as the accident above.

The FMCSA §393.86 sets out the regulations for rear impact guards and rear end protection. General requirements for trailers and semitrailers are that each trailer and semitrailer (with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more) must be equipped with a rear impact guard that meets the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, regulating the following items:

a. Impact guard width;
b. Guard height;
c. Guard rear surface;
d. Cross-sectional vertical height; and
e. Certification and labeling requirements for rear impact protection guards, which are
1. The impact guard manufacturer's name and address;
2. The statement "Manufactured in ____" (inserting the month and year that the guard was manufactured); and,
3. The letters "DOT", constituting a certification by the guard manufacturer that the guard conforms to all requirements.