Euro NCAP finds fatal flaws in trailer underrun safety

The latest investigation from Euro NCAP has exposed critical vulnerabilities in both vehicle crash-avoidance technology and structural safety guards fitted to the rear of trucks and trailers.

The investigation was initiated and supported by the National Highways in the UK, informed by analysis of collision data on the strategic road network, and examines trailer rear underrun impacts – collisions where, in some circumstances, a passenger car slides beneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).

This crash type is potentially leading to approximately 400 fatalities across the EU and UK every year.

Euro NCAP said it has found that trailers built to Europe’s mandatory rear underrun protection standard fail to prevent fatal injuries, with guards from Schmitz Cargobull and Krone both failing crash tests at 56 km/h.

It also found that older advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) fail to detect stationary trailers, meaning physical guards remain the critical line of defence.

Euro NCAP has called on European and UK regulators to upgrade standards to match the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) ‘ToughGuard’ benchmark, which encourages safer rear underrun guards that most US trailer manufacturers already fit to their vehicles.

ToughGuard has been adopted by 70 per cent of new US trailers since 2017. Euro NCAP has urged manufacturers to develop retrofit solutions for existing fleets.

“International research has revealed the devastating flaws of the rear safety guards fitted to the hundreds of thousands of trailers and trucks operating throughout Europe and the UK. This is grave cause for concern,” said Matthew Avery, director of strategic development Euro NCAP.

“We have spent decades improving the safety of passenger vehicles, but those structures and restraint systems are rendered inadequate in the event of a trailer rear underrun, which is why we are seeing such a high fatality rate associated with this type of accident. And that is unacceptable.

“The legislation behind Europe’s truck and trailer safety needs to be updated as a matter of urgency to help prevent this type of impact that can prove potentially fatal.

“The good news is that the template already exists in the US with the IIHS voluntary ToughGuard standard; the sooner the rear impact guards on Europe’s and UK’s trucks and trailers are updated, the better so future lives can be saved,” he added.