At least one death every day on the roads in the U.S. is attributed to one largely preventable cause - underrides -- a type of crash in which a vehicle goes underneath a tractor-trailer.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2021, there were 488 fatalities nationwide from side impact underride crashes alone.
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They are becoming increasingly common in North Carolina, and a local mother and local engineer have teamed up to push for solutions that would save lives.
Marianne Karth was involved in an underride crash in 2013 while traveling from North Carolina to Texas, when her car went underneath the back of a tractor-trailer in Georgia. She and her son survived, but her two daughters, 17-year-old AnnaLeah and 13-year-old Mary, were killed. Since then, she has been channeling her grief to fight for more protections against these types of crashes.
"What happened to my daughters could still happen today," Karth said. "And it still does happen to people."
Data from the North Carolina DMV shows roughly 500 underride crashes a year in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Numbers from the first half to his year show North Carolina is on tack to slightly outpace that. Since 2020, at least 115 people have died in underride crashes in the state.
"Underride protection doesn’t stop a crash from happening, but it can make the crash more survivable," Karth said. "So, that’s the mission I’m on: To make truck crashes more survivable. For 11 years now, that’s been what a lot of my life has been about."
"Engineers actually have designed underride protection that can stop that, but it’s not required by the federal government," she continued. "If it can be done, why hasn’t it been done?"
North Carolina State University graduate Aaron Keifer, an engineer in the Triangle, invented a device called a "safety skirt" that is designed to prevent underride crashes. The device looks almost like a seatbelt that surrounds the tractor trailer, outside its wheels, to provide a barrier that would prevent a car from going underneath the trailer. Keifer describes it as a simple device that costs about $2,000.
Keifer says, since 1998, tractor-trailers have been required to have rear underride guards, which offer enhanced protection for rear underride crashes. He believes the current standards and many devices are too weak in that arena, so he has also designed what he calls a "rear guard reinforcement."
His passion for stopping underride crashes derives from his day job, which is as a consultant who analyzes crashes around the country.
"I was traveling a lot, looking at major truck accidents, and I started to see a pattern," he explained. "My thought process is I have some expertise, I have some spare time, and I could make a difference for highway safety."
He created his product nearly 10 years ago.
"I know that these crashes could’ve been avoided with simple solutions," he said."And that the engineering and the knowledge was there years ago to create the solution but there was no will to do so."
Keifer says, through his passion of preventing underride crashes, he met Marianne Karth, who also lives in the Triangle area. WRAL Investigates went with both of them to observe a crash test of his device this fall at a North Carolina Highway Patrol facility in Raleigh. He deemed it a success, as it did successfully prevent a car from going underneath the truck, and caused the car's airbags to deploy. Despite its successes, his device and ones like it still are not gaining traction in the trucking industry.
Karth believes that's because the companies do not want to spend the money on it. However, she notes, underride crashes can be costly to trucking companies and manufacturers.
Last month, a jury in St. Louis City rendered a $462 million verdict against a trailer manufacturer related to a deadly underride crash.
Karth and Keifer believe Congress needs to take action to require enhanced underride protection.
"How much research do we have to do?" Karth asked, fighting back tears. "How many times do we have to prove that it can be stopped? And how many more people have to die?"
WRAL Investigates reached out to U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-North Carolina, for an interview. A spokesperson said she was not available, so she provided this statement instead:
“Current back guard requirements for tractor-trailers have been effective in enhancing rear-end collision protection and preventing underride accidents, but more studies must be done to develop additional solutions that will further improve road safety ... As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I am fully supportive of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ongoing research efforts into potential additional safety measures that could further reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities. This critical research – and the future federal traffic safety regulations that will hopefully result from it – will be vital in guiding the trucking industry toward additional underride safety improvements that will further optimize traffic safety and better protect Americans on the road.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Tedd Budd, R-North Carolina, provided the following statement:
“Senator Budd is aware of these concerns and will continue to engage on this issue in the Senate Commerce Committee and with the Department of Transportation. His goal will always be to improve highway safety nationwide.”
And Jessica Gail, spokesperson for the American Trucking Associations, a national trade association for the trucking indsutry, wrote:
“The trucking industry proactively invests $14 billion annually in safety training, technology, and other measures that extend beyond those required by law. Today's trucks are equipped with advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning systems, forward-collision and blind-spot warnings, to name but a few. The American Trucking Associations actively supports a range of solutions to reduce, mitigate, and prevent crashes of all types – including underride-related crashes – involving all types of road users and is engaged in federal and state-level efforts to drive these solutions forward.
“ATA believes equipment mandates should be based on sound engineering while considering real-world operations and weighing unintended consequences. The federal government’s own analysis cites significant, unresolved challenges posed by side underride guards, such as railroad crossings and other infrastructure designs that could ensnare this equipment and create an even greater safety hazard. Moreover, NHTSA concluded its proposal to require guards on new trailers would have a net-negative benefit of $1 billion, which pales in comparison to the $35 billion it would cost to install these guards on all existing trailers. This inordinate, unfunded mandate would kill current investments in innovative, lifesaving technologies that prevent crashes from occurring in the first place by forcing companies to use divert limited resources to less-effective, costly underride equipment.
“ATA has remained engaged in conversations at the federal level regarding appropriate measures to mitigate and prevent side underride crashes through direct participation in and representation on NHTSA’s Advisory Committee on Underride Protection (ACUP), created under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Additionally, we support DOT taking a more comprehensive approach on a crash-prevention strategy, including the deployment of advanced safety technologies and enforcement to prevent distracted and aggressive driving, which, in 2020, contributed to more than 3,142 deaths and an estimated additional 324,652 injuries, according to NHTSA.”
Underride crashes in NC by year, according to the NCDMV
| Year | Underride crashes involving a heavy truck | Fatal underride crashes involving a heavy truck |
| 2020 | 464 | 28 |
| 2021 | 463 | 26 |
| 2022 | 518 | 17 |
| 2023 | 482 | 32 |
| 2024 (Jan-July) | 263 | 12 |
| Grand Total | 2,190 | 115 |