After another accident that involved a bicyclist and a large truck in the middle of November, Massachusetts is once again considering making changes to trucking laws. Passing the law could keep cyclists and others safer on the state’s roads. Still, it is currently stalled in the House.
Meng Jin, a graduate student from Boston University, was in front of the Museum of Science on his bicycle. He was simply waiting to make a right turn alongside a large dump truck. As they both started moving, the truck’s rear wheels ran over Jin. It was an accident that was easily preventable.
Simply requiring that side guards are installed on trucks could prevent deaths such as Jin’s, and the death of Anita Kurmann in 2015 that was widely publicized. Side guards are barriers that extend below the trailer portion of the truck. Having them installed on trucks means that pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles cannot become stuck in the undercarriage of trucks.
They are a safety measure Boston City Council passed in 2014 for all large trucks owned by, or conducting business with, the city. Boston also requires enhanced mirrors on city trucks. Cambridge has also proposed legislation to make side guards mandatory for city trucks. That bill has recently been put before Congress.
Massachusetts is taking steps to require the side guards. A bill has been passed through the Senate, but is being held up in the House. It is not expected that new legislation will be introduced this year.
“There is no reason we cannot have this simple safety measure added to all trucks throughout the state,” says Larry Nussbaum of Nussbaum Law Group, P.C. “Trucking companies are hesitant to do it because it will add weight to the trucks, and because they are costly to install. However, we should never place an interest in profits above the safety of the general public.”
The American Trucking Association states that there are other measures that could be taken that would protect the public just as well as side guards. These include education, enforcing speed limits, and making technological changes to trucks, such as automatic braking. There is no reason though, that these cannot be used in conjunction with the side guards that could prevent so many more unnecessary deaths.
