Underride Crashes
Underride collisions can be catastrophic when smaller vehicles slide beneath trailers.
Underride crashes often involve questions about trailer guards, visibility, and lighting.
Why Underride Crashes Are So Lethal
An underride crash is the physics of the 85% figure made visible: in 2024, 85.3% of people killed in large-truck crashes were not the truck's occupants. In an underride, the car does not hit the truck's bumper — it slides beneath the trailer, and the point of impact becomes the passenger compartment. The crumple zone designed to absorb energy is bypassed entirely. (Cash4Crashes analysis of NHTSA FARS 2024. Full data: Who Actually Dies in Large Truck Crashes.)
Rear guard compliance — whether the guard met federal standards and whether it had been damaged in an earlier incident and never repaired — is often the central evidence question in these cases.
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