Trailer Underride
Trailer Underride:
Conspicuity, Human Factors, and Rear
Bumpers
by Joseph E. Badger
This manual puts everything you need to know about trailer
underrides in one location. Not only will you find diagrams and photos that
describe and illustrate situations in which underride collisions typically
occur, you will also find the encouraging results of better trailer visibility
now required by law.
In this revised 1998 edition of Trailer Underride:
Conspicuity, Human Factors, and Rear Bumpers, Joseph Badger explains why
most underride crashes occur at night and how these crashes frequently result
from the motorist’s failure to perceive - until too late - the nature of the
object blocking the path, such as a trailer angled across the motorist’s lane
of travel (resulting in a side underride) or the motorist’s failure to gauge
the distance to the back of a slow-moving rig traveling in the same lane
(resulting in a rear underride).
The author also discusses the preventive measures that
have been effective in either preventing these collisions or in reducing their
severity - such as better conspicuity of tractor-trailer rigs, better training
for both truck drivers and motorists in respect to nighttime visibility and
underride crashes, better training of law enforcement officers who may be called
to the scene of an underride crash and the installation of better underride
guards on trailers. In addition, Mr. Badger addresses the countermeasures that
have been tried and failed.
Joseph Badger is a nationally known expert in the field of
crash reconstruction. He retired from the Indiana State Police after 20 years,
during which he spent the last 10 as the senior crash reconstructionist. He is
accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR)
and is a member of several reconstruction organizations. He currently maintains
a private consulting business.
Specifications: 73 pages; 8½”x11”; coil bound; Publisher: IPTM, Revised Edition (1998)