A few days ago, multiple video clips of a horrible accident went viral. The videos were the aftermath of a Kia Sportage rear-ending a dump truck. The vehicle front was destroyed. The occupant of the vehicle was recovered, and the car later caught fire.
Unfortunately, the single individual and the driver lost his life due to possible severe injuries. May Almighty Allah rest the departed soul in eternal peace and give strength to the family to bear this irreparable loss.
An Importance Advice
Before I go further, as always, I would like to remind you that please drive safely and responsibly. Always follow the rules of the road and drive defensively. Your very minor and careless behaviour can result in a catastrophic outcome. Please drive attentive and stay away from distracted driving, which includes cell phone use.
Control your aggression, follow speed limits, and adjust your driving concerning traffic and weather conditions. Always follow lane discipline and never overtake on the wrong side. Never tailgate/driving too close to the other vehicle, keep a safe distance, and everyone in the car MUST wear seat belts.
Safety in Local Cars
When it comes to road safety and safety equipment and features in our locally assembled cars, we always score on the lower end when comparing our locally produced models with respect to overseas models. In the case of commercial transport, buses, trucks, trailer or any other goods hauling vehicles, the situation is even worse. Unsafe vehicles with no safety, poorly maintained commercial vehicles is not something new. Unfortunately, there is no safety mandate and no agency that can vet and enforce any regulations.
Under-Ride Guards
Although there are many issues but this recent accident should be an eye-opener. This shows how a piece of very simple and basic safety equipment is missing from most of our trucks, trailer, or other vehicles with higher ground clearance, a simple solution required and enforced in Europe, North America and many other countries across Asia. This is called “Under-ride Guards”. These are specially designed metal framing [as per government approved specifications ] on the rear and side of the trucks and trailers.
The front of passenger vehicles is designed to absorb the impact and crash energy by having crumple zones so that the maximum forces can be contained away from the passenger compartment. At the same time, frontal airbags & seat belts help in protecting the occupants in case of a front collision.
These trucks, and especially dump trucks, normally have a high clearance on the rear. When a passenger vehicle, a car, a typical crossover or an SUV rear-ends a truck, there is a high possibility it will slip under the truck body. Such a situation will result in the occupants in the vehicle within a direct target of the impacts with the truck. In other words, the vehicle frontal safety design or even airbags will be useless and have no benefit. Even a slow-speed crash under 20kmph can be fatal, as the occupants’ upper body in the rear-ending vehicle will bang with the truck body. Thousands of people died overseas in such crashes, and I am sure many people died or got injured in Pakistan in such accidents.
Practice in US & Europe
In the US and Europe, agencies worked on this issue and implemented a solution. As the name suggests, the Under-Ride Guards stop passenger vehicles sliding under trucks if the passenger vehicle rear-ends a truck/trailer/dump truck and any other similar vehicle. In the United States, the Under-Ride impact bars are not more than 22 inches above the ground surface, while in Europe, it is also around 17 to 20 inches. This way, any rear-ending vehicle is contained. There is a detailed design requirement of these impact beams in the Motor vehicle safety standard, publicly available.
I strongly recommend that the concerned authority in Pakistan look into this simple solution and make it a mandatory requirement on all trucks and trailers. Again, it should be a system designed, approved and regularly inspected by an agency and not self-designed by truckers themselves; otherwise, it will be of no benefit.
Lastly, I will stress one more time again; there is no substitute for safe driving. Please drive responsibly.
Note: I never wanted to re-share the video clip of the Sportage because of the sensitivity and the family’s situation, and I apologize in advance. But the aftermath of the vehicle reflects a grave issue, and we come across it daily; if it’s not fixed and any initiative is not taken about it, we might lose more souls.
