Michigan tractor-trailer companies that properly employ the use of side guards can help to reduce the number of trucking accidents that result in fatalities. Advocates of side guards are constantly informing the public about the use of side guards and demanding that government representatives make side guards mandatory for all trailers. No law has been passed so far to mandate this safety device.
What are side guards?
A side guards is a metal device installed at the bottom of a trailer between its axles. This side guard helps to fill the empty space found underneath a trailer. The whole point of side guards is to reduce the risk of personal injury in the event of a side collision crash.
Traditionally, when a car is involved in a side collision with a trailer, the car goes underneath the trailer. The height of the trailer is typically at the distance of where a person’s head is in the cabin of their vehicle. Due to this fact, it’s no surprise that many of these trucking accidents end up being fatal.
How can side guards help?
By filling the space underneath a trailer with side guards, it provides a surface for a smaller vehicle to hit in a side collision, thus preventing the vehicle’s cabin from ever going underneath the trailer. This essentially helps to minimize the overall injuries that happen as a result of a side collision. Drivers are more likely to survive when the cabin of their vehicle doesn’t go underneath the trailer.
Being involved in a trucking accident can result in severe and even fatal injuries. Side guards are one preventative measure that can help to reduce the severity of injuries that victims end up with.
