Stop Underrides Act 2.0
- Bill Number
- S. 3775
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Transportation and Public Works
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-02-04: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Last Updated
- 2026-03-12T11:03:18Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose of the Legislation
The Stop Underride Act 2.0 aims to reduce preventable deaths and injuries from underride crashes—where a smaller vehicle or person slides under a larger truck or trailer—by requiring stronger safety protections on commercial trucks. It seeks to make truck crashes more survivable, enhance safety for passenger vehicles, motor carriers (trucking companies), and vulnerable road users (such as pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists), and address long-standing gaps in federal safety regulations.
Key Provisions
- Findings and Honors: The bill outlines Congress's recognition of underride crashes as a major safety threat, citing over 25,000 underride incidents and 31,500 fatalities since the 1960s, with limited progress by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It honors victims and survivors by name and emphasizes the need for action based on recommendations from safety experts like the National Transportation Safety Board.
- Definitions: Introduces or clarifies terms in federal law (Title 49 of the U.S. Code), including:
- Comprehensive underride protection system: All front, rear, or side guards on a commercial motor vehicle (a truck used for business transport).
- Front underride guard: A device on the front of a truck to limit sliding under during a front-end collision.
- Rear underride guard: Existing term for rear impact protection.
- Side underride guard: A device on the side of trailers, semitrailers, or single-unit trucks (standalone large trucks without trailers) to prevent sliding under or access by vulnerable users.
- Other terms like passenger motor vehicle (cars, SUVs, etc.), semitrailer, trailer, and vulnerable road user.
- Rulemaking for Side Underride Guards: Requires the Secretary of Transportation (via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA) to finalize new or updated safety standards within 18 months of enactment. These standards mandate side underride guards on new trailers, semitrailers, and single-unit trucks that:
- Prevent a passenger vehicle from intruding into its occupant space during perpendicular impacts up to 40 mph.
- Block vulnerable users from passing under the truck's side.
- Incorporate aerodynamic designs to improve fuel efficiency.
Full compliance is required within 2 years of finalization, with cost-benefit analyses factoring in lives saved, injuries prevented, and net fuel savings (comparing new guards to current voluntary aerodynamic skirts). Standards must be reviewed every 5 years for updates.
- Advisory Committee on Underride Protection: Reconvene the existing committee (from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) within 180 days. Amendments expand membership to 22 (adding representatives for passenger vehicle and vulnerable user victims' families), require monthly virtual meetings until rules are finalized (plus annual in-person), shift to annual in-person assessments afterward, mandate annual reports, and set a termination date of September 30, 2031.
- Public Resources Website: DOT must create and maintain a public website as a central hub for underride information, including DOT research on guards, links to the advisory committee database, rulemaking details, victim stories, and crash data collection. Updates are required at least quarterly.
- Studies:
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Study: Contract within 1 year to examine front-end truck crashes, their risks to vulnerable users, and effectiveness of front guards. Report to Congress within 180 days, including prevention recommendations, device efficacy, and crash statistics since 2010 (e.g., vehicle types, road types, fatalities).
- Government Accountability Office (GAO) Study: Conduct within 1 year on NHTSA's 2022 rear impact guard rule implementation. Report to Congress and DOT within 180 days, analyzing compliance, suggesting improvements, and recommending ways to prevent rear underrides.
- Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Review and Training: NHTSA must review its FARS database within 1 year to identify underreported underride fatalities (using crash data, photos, and other sources) and recommend better reporting by state/local law enforcement. Within 18 months, develop free online training for officers on identifying and documenting underride crashes.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Amends Title 49 of the U.S. Code to insert and reorganize definitions, ensuring consistency across federal motor vehicle safety laws (e.g., adding "side underride guard" and "vulnerable road user" directly into the code).
- Mandates binding timelines for side underride guard regulations, overriding any prior withdrawal of proposed rules (e.g., NHTSA's 2023 advanced notice on side guards).
- Expands the advisory committee's role, frequency, and duration compared to the 2021 law, with new victim family representation.
- Introduces requirements for periodic standard reviews, public data repositories, independent studies, and law enforcement training, which were not previously mandated at this level of detail.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Increases workload for DOT and NHTSA, including rulemaking, committee management, website maintenance, studies, and training development. May require additional funding or resources to meet deadlines, with ongoing reviews every 5 years.
- Citizens: Could save thousands of lives and reduce injuries by making underride crashes less lethal, particularly benefiting drivers of passenger vehicles and vulnerable road users. Improved crash reporting and training may lead to better data for future safety measures.
- Trucking Industry and Motor Carriers: New vehicles must comply with guard standards, potentially raising manufacturing and retrofitting costs, but with offsets from fuel efficiency gains. Existing voluntary practices (e.g., aerodynamic skirts) are factored into analyses.
- International Relations: No direct impacts; focuses on domestic U.S. road safety standards.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Trucking Manufacturers and Operators: Required to install and maintain new safety devices on vehicles.
- Passenger Vehicle Drivers and Occupants: Primary beneficiaries through reduced crash severity.
- Vulnerable Road Users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists): Protected from sliding under trucks in side or front impacts.
- Victims' Families and Safety Advocates: Gain representation on the advisory committee and public acknowledgment via the website.
- State and Local Law Enforcement: Receive training to improve crash documentation.
- Federal Agencies (DOT, NHTSA, GAO, NASEM): Tasked with implementation, research, and oversight.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens federal authority under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act by mandating enforceable safety standards and timelines, potentially setting precedents for future vehicle regulations. Ensures continuity by preventing rule withdrawals without congressional override.
- Constitutional: Aligns with Congress's commerce clause powers to regulate interstate transportation and public safety; no apparent challenges to due process or property rights, as it targets new vehicles and includes cost-benefit reviews.
- Political: Builds on prior laws (e.g., 2021 infrastructure act) with a focus on evidence-based safety, honoring victims to build bipartisan support for road safety. May influence ongoing debates on trucking regulations versus industry costs, emphasizing preventable fatalities over 50 years.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Cosponsors (9)
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM], Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT], Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD], Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL], Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA], Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR], Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR], Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA], Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Recent Actions
- 2026-02-04: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- 2026-02-04: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Stop Underrides Act 2.0 — issued 2026-02-04 — PDF (18 pages)