Front underrun call
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• Front underrun bumpers on trucks would save 80 motorists' lives a year — a third of those killed in head-on crashes with HGVs — says a new report.
The study, by Loughborough University scientists for the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, looked at fatal frontal accidents involving cars and HGVs during 1988.
Front guards are not compulsory, although rear underrun bumpers have had to be fitted on most trucks since 1988. In a head-on crash the truck's bumper often hits the car winds creen, killing or badly injuring the driver, says the TRRL. With a lower bumper the front of the car absorbs much of the impact.
The Government is pressing for front underrun bumpers to be made compulsory across Europe. Proposals for fitting them will be debated in Brussels in March: "We would quite like to see them adopted," says the Department of Transport.
The TRRL, which has made its own crash tests to see if front bumpers would be effective, says it is essential that bumpers are made of steel and not just plastic bodywork moulding or farings, as is common on modern trucks. 0 Copies of the TRRL report: Analysis of fatal accidents involving heavy goods vehicles — front underrun accidents in 1988 are now