Rear underride guards are a necessity while driving a truck. Not only can they save lives in the event of a collision, they are a mandated protection feature. Recently, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been studying the effects of side underride guards in potential collisions between passenger vehicles and trucking rigs. While the organization’s results haven’t driven legislative changes yet, side guards could save lives and, if you install them on your trucks, could reduce the cost of your trucking insurance premiums.
Why could installing side underride guards make your truck safer?
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, there are over ten thousand collisions a year involving semi trucks. While you and your drivers have a much lower risk of being injured or killed during a collision with a passenger vehicle, the other party is in danger during side collisions because they run the risk of driving partially under the trailer. Without an underride guard to collide with first, airbags don’t go off and all of the impact is in the passenger compartment rather than the front of the car. Currently, according to the IIHS, fatalities arising from side collisions are more common than in rear collisions, so current legislation isn’t enough to keep the roads safe.
How can installing side guards lower your commercial truck insurance?
Side underride guards are not mandated safety features yet, but they are a critical safety feature that can save lives. Making safety-related modifications to your vehicles not only demonstrates to truck insurance companies that you are a cautious owner with the capital to make improvements but they also reduce the risk of fatal collisions, and that makes you safer to insure.
If you want to talk to an insurance agent about how specific safety measure can reduce your commercial truck insurance premiums and our top suggestions for making your truck safer, contact J.E.B. Insurance Services, LLC here for more tips and information.We provide commercial truck insurance in Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.
