Are side skirt on trailers mandatory according to European regulations?

[FawnPrince]

Hello everyone,

 

Yes, I am asking something slightly specific and technical, but have you ever wondered if the side skirts on the side of trailers are mandatory or not? Because I did, and I can't find a solution on the internet. Please help me.

 

And while we are on this topic, what are their purpose? I think it might be with cyclists, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I'll put a picture of a side skirt in case you still don't understand what I'm talking about.

 

[Nomad.]

When l was an apprentice as a mechanic l was taught that sideskirts have quite a few purposes, (if im wrong about anything someone feel free to correct me) their main purpose is safety to prevent cyclists/cars getting trapped underneath but they also make trailers more aero-dynamic so there is less pull for the truck, for if they are mandatory or not l would assume so to pass safety checks (again correct me if im wrong)

[TheCanadianTrucker]

Depends on where you're from.  In North America trailers aren't required to have sideskirts though many do due to the savings for a company in fuel reduction.

 

And while a sideskirt can help a little to prevent people or things from getting underneath the trailer, if that truck is making any kind of a turn its trailer will cut in and run over whatever's there.

[Guest]

Here in Brazil, the trailers come with this protection bar, this serves both for cyclists, but also as cars and motorbikes to not get under the trailer. I think this protection is Fantastic, it can save many lives.

[Granite [SVK]]

9 hours ago, TheCanadianTrucker said:

Depends on where you're from.  In North America trailers aren't required to have sideskirts though many do due to the savings for a company in fuel reduction.

 

And while a sideskirt can help a little to prevent people or things from getting underneath the trailer, if that truck is making any kind of a turn its trailer will cut in and run over whatever's there.

 

OP asks about european regulations, but you are right about NA (though maybe in some US states some form of protection may be required, I don't know?), their main purpose is for aerodynamics over 40mph, and they are too flexible to stop a car hitting them at higher speed. One thing, I'm certain that is mandatory, is the underride protection in the rear of the trailer, to prevent fatal accidents when passenger car crashes into the back of the trailer.

 

However, in EU, we are talking about lateral protection devices, or LPD, and as far as I know, or just quickly google it, they are mandatory on all new vehicles over 3,5t (this includes rigids and trailers), since 2010 or maybe 2011, I'm not sure, and it' regulated by european commision - google regulation no. 73 or unece 73.

As I understand it, it's main purpose is pedestrian protection, european trucks and trailers are much lower, no real car would ever fit underneath them.

American trailers, however, have much higher clearance underneath, where some really low roadster / convertible may fit, but normal cars would still get their roofs destroyed - I think such accidents actually really happened in US, when car would get trapped under the trailer and dragged for several miles before the truck driver would notice something was wrong, until it was too late and the car catched fire causing the passenger's deaths. I think that in the event of car driver's steering into the trailer due to microsleep, sideskirts could prevent the car getting under the trailer.

 

While it is realistic in ATS, you can choose to remove any sideskirts, it is not realistic that you can do so in ETS2 too, and that one in the picture, it's standard generic trailer, I don't think it complies with the requirements set by the regulation.

[TheCanadianTrucker]

@Granite - I tend to open multiple tabs of forum posts and didn't notice this one was from the ETS2 section, thanks for pointing that out. 

 

Thanks for the info on the LPDs and European regulations, it's given me something to look up while I'm sitting here bored.

[Paddy.]

Most people are making reference to cyclist protection, and this is most certainly their main protective purpose (or application) in the real world, but they do have an additional purpose of protecting from a vehicle hitting them perpendicular. This would typically occur if either the truck driver or the 3rd party ran a red light or failed to adhere to a traffic control device (yield/give way or stop sign).

 

In the absence of these protective LPD's, the first point of impact would most likely be the windscreen of the vehicle in question, meaning that it would almost certainly result in a fatality. With the additional protection of the LPD's, the impact zone is the bumper or bonnet/hood region, thus absorbing more of the impact and increasing likelihood of survival of the crash.

 

Have a look here: 

 

 

 

[.Quality]

Another benefit of sideskirts that hasn't previously been mentioned is that they aid the function of advanced driver aids such as AEB. 

 

Without the sideskirts to "fill in" the empty space, such driver aids may not detect the trailer, leading to them not functioning as intended. 

 

Therefore, sideskirts assist motor vehicles too. 

 

Regards, 

Quality_Productions 

[Shadii.]

Hello @FawnPrince

 

I would like to inform you that your topic has been inactive for more than 14 days, so I am closing it and moving it to the Archive so that the topics are active by the community.

If you have any questions or want to restore the topic, please contact me.

 

// Locked and moved to Archive