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Rear underride crashes kill thousands of people yearly worldwide. Underride guards did not follow the progress achieved by the automotive safety technology. Searching for solutions to this problem, two new guards have been designed and three crash tests carried out. A new articulated, an energy absorbing conceptual guard and a guard constructed according to the European (ECE-R58) regulation were tested. Both the new guards could avoid underride, the ECE-R58 one could not. The tests pointed out that the new articulated guard could be used after a few modifications and the conceptual one needs further optimization to become commercially feasible.

We are in a decade of great technological progress, catalyzed by the development of the computer, which supplies tools that were unthinkable in the past, in order to accelerate the pioneering of developments for the betterment of mankind. In the field of automotive safety, remarkable developments like AIR BAGS, and the anti-blocking breaking system, have complemented the safety brought by the safety belts. Automobiles are improving each year, in terms of comfort, aerodynamic profiles, more powerful and efficient engines, with less pollution, very high acceleration rates and sophisticated commands, as if they were destinated to run alone in perfect streets and highways. In everyday utilization, however, the scenario is completely different, full of risky situations, brought by high speed and a great number of other different causes.