Commercial Truck Under-Ride Bars: A Virginia Truck Accident Attorney’s Advice

I have handled personal injury cases involving trucks for over 20 years. As a result I have learned a lot about the trucking industry from litigating cases against truck drivers and their employers.

One aspect of big commercial rigs that you may not know about is why they have that red and white bar across the back of them at about eye level when you’re riding behind them in a personal vehicle: Those bars are called under-ride protection.

The purpose of them is to prevent your car from running up underneath the back of the truck and decapitating you. The idea is that the reinforced steel bar will catch the engine of the passenger vehicle and prevent it from going up under the bed of the tractor or trailer.

It is an example of a safety law which makes a real difference in saving lives out on the highway. That simple bar on the back of 18-wheelers has saved lots of people from losing loved ones’ lives in unavoidable rear-end collisions.

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us at (757) 455 -0077 or contact us through this website.