The image of a passenger car being trapped under a large commercial truck is one of the most horrifying scenes on America's roadways. These "underride crashes" occur when a car collides with and slides under the rear, side, or front of a truck. While statistics show that close to 80% of all underride crashes occur with the front (60%) or side (20%) of the truck, there are no federal safety regulations on front or side underride crashes. Surprisingly, federal regulations only establish safety standards for rear underride accidents. Author Nissenberg addresses this void in federal regulation and raises the novel legal question of whether the lack of safety guards on the front or side of a truck makes the truck a "defective product," giving rise to the use of products liability theories in such cases.

To read the full commentary, click here: Nissenberg on Big Rig Underride Crashes.