When will the US require trucks to have side underride guards like the EU? These accidents happen even with human drivers.
It freaked me out and I stay as far away as possible from semis on the road now.
It's going to be a long time before most trailers have the improved guards, but hopefully it will get better eventually.
Basically all the vehicle mass is near the ground in a relatively thin layer. That component isn't going to stop easily. But the lightweight rest of the car, interfering with the structural part of the trailer, will shear right off.
In the worst case, at least the underrun skirt should help the collision avoidance systems avoid the collision in the first place.
EU truck: https://www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/...
On the US truck, there is an open space under the trailer, where the engine of a car can go in so the trailer decapitates the passengers. On the EU truck, there are bars under the trailer to stop cars from going in there and letting the crumple zone do its job.