Massachusetts law requires truck side underrun protection

January 6, 20230

The Massachusetts Transportation Safety Bill includes a mandate to install side underride guards on some trucks.

The law covers vehicles, trailers and trucks of class 3 or higher with a rated gross weight in excess of 10,000 pounds. The regulation also requires these vehicles to carry aspherical mirrors, blind-spot mirrors, and their respective decals.

The mandate is designed to prevent vulnerable road users from being run over by side impacts.

“Some of the most tragic accidents have occurred when large vehicles started up and could not see people on the street around them,” said Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont. “Other tragic accidents have occurred when people have been caught by the sideways sweeping motion of longer trucks when they turn.”

Similar truck mandates have been approved in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The new law also increases the safety distance near vulnerable road users (cyclists, construction workers, emergency workers and anyone else who is not in a vehicle) to at least four feet for all vehicles.

Drivers are required to move at a reasonable speed.

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