Good info, if only to alert folks to the potential danger. I saw a car go under the side of a trailer when I was a kid (maybe 11) on my way to school. Everyone on the bus was convinced the car driver had to have been decapitated. Never did find out what happened.

i bet those help with mpg cause of less aero drag

"As usual, Europe does it better."

Huh? If you're talking about the fact that they're better at being "big brother" and over taxing, you're right.

Why don't consumer vehicles have mounted guards above their passenger compartments? That would have the same effect and you could have that installed yourself.

Why don't consumer vehicles have mounted guards above their passenger compartments?

by the time the guard on the passenger compartment comes into contact with the trailer side, the car is already halfway underneath the semi. unless of course you mean some kind of giant piece of metal sticking up from the hood, effectively blocking your view of anything ahead of you.
that, or some kind of framework on the bumper, which would kill aerodynamics, wasting yet more precious fossil fuel to friction and drag.

but i understand that it's extremely difficult to engineer a piece of metal or hardened plastic/fiberglass onto the side of a semi. </sarcasm>

Why don't consumer vehicles have mounted guards above their passenger compartments? That would have the same effect and you could have that installed yourself.

Wah?

Ok... so let's think about it for a second... we can either: do the relatively simple thing of installing a side barrier along the length of that gap on the truck AS DONE IN MANY COUNTRIES.
OR
By your suggestion... retrofit ALL cars with super strong front rollcage things for some ungodly amount of money.

You have many things going against your ridiculous suggestion:
a) The number of cars vs the number of trucks
b) The ease of installing a barrier on the side of a truck vs somehow incorporating it into the myriad of different car bodies which have no easy place to do so safely, cheaply or in an aesthetic manner.

I mean, what's with the anti European attack? Um... yeah, they are doing it better... live with it, the US doesn't do everything in the best way you know. Not by a hell of a long way.

Why don't consumer vehicles have mounted guards above their passenger compartments?

Let's just strap babies and kittens to our cars to soften the blow.

I like how in all the videos the cars are hitting the trailer at 90 degrees, but when it comes to his point, the car is hitting at 45 degrees...

I'd be so pissed with side guards. I cut under semis all the time, along with using the underside of the trailer to hide from the police, what am i supposed to do now?

I dunno about you, but I try not to make it a habit to run into semi's . . . but hey, looks like it could just be me. I love all these things we do to protect ourselves from, well, ourselves. lol

I was going to mention how it also saves bikes... but then he said it too. Well, let's call... um... *travel on this?

Adding video to channels (Travel) - requested by Krupo.

"Huh? If you're talking about the fact that they're better at being "big brother" and over taxing, you're right."
I am as libertarian as any other guy on here, but you can't say regulations like this are "big brother". There needs to be rules on the uses of these trucks on public property, and this is for sure a valid regulation

I can't believe that the US doesn't rubber-stamp such a simple piece of legislation that could save lives.

Im going to go ahead and add an *EIA on this, only because the VAST majority of all traffic collisions are not "accidents." They stem from stupid people doing stupid things. Granted there are exceptions, but most "accidents" are caused by driver inattention. And if you can't be smart enough to pay attention while your moving a 2 ton or more piece of equipment and 30 MPH plus, then conradulations, heres your Darwin award.

Don't blame the truckers, or the industry, blame yourselves.

Adding video to channels (Eia) - requested by arsenault185.

...here's your Darwin award.
Don't blame the truckers, or the industry, blame yourselves.


Almost all tailer / car accidents are due to an error of the driver of the car, not the truck.

>> ^schmawy:
...here's your Darwin award.
Don't blame the truckers, or the industry, blame yourselves.

Almost all tailer / car accidents are due to an error of the driver of the car, not the truck.


I think that's exactly what arsenault was saying, schmawy.

Thats EXACTLY what I am saying.

Yes, if you noticed, I did upvote his comment (if you hover your cursor over the little vote arrow, you can see who upped and downed it). He said "driver inattention" and I didn't want it to be left to the reader to infer "car" driver. I should have made it clearer. I'm all about personal responsibility, and spend a good amount of my vehicular time on a motorcycle, so this is really the least of my worries.

I had a friend who not more than a month ago got in an accident with a Trailer because it pulled out in front of him and he wasn't able to stop because of ice. He and his brother would have been decapitated if they hadn't ducked. Someone needs to pass some legislation on this...

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Monday, February 11th, 2008 3:44am PST - promote requested by kronosposeidon.

*promote - I never realised the USA lacked these on their HGVs

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 3:58pm PDT - promote requested by Zonbie.