Stop Rear-ending Our Trucks!

How do you keep trucks from getting rear ended? 

Yeah, there's a joke in there, somewhere.  But I'm serious.  This week we've already had two incidents where our trucks were appropriately stopped at intersections when they got hit.  One of these cost us an OSHA-recordable injury.  He'll be OK.  

What can we realistically do?  The trucks are white and relatively new with Knapheide beds on the service trucks, with some company and licensing markings.  Not camouflaged, no stealth at all.  And we have several such incidents every year.

Add conspicuity tape, reflectors?  

James Bond style rocket launchers out the rear?

Probably some tape, but it has to be pretty bright to be seen through the phone.

Reflective tape would be cheap and easy, if other drivers were paying attention, those LED brake lights that span the bumper might help if they're bright enough. Maybe a proximity siren? 

Lobby the gubment to ban texting while driving? I don't think the issue is your trucks.

Good luck. We've tried extra lights, stripes, painting the whole back of the bus bright yellow, none of it helps. 

All our trucks/SUV have the red/yellow tapes (bought from HF) on the back. Additionally, we have demollo or slee steel bumpers + tow hitch ball on all. 

Have had 2 rear enders on the 405 last 3 years, 0 damage to us. Can't say the same about the 993 Turbo and the MDX that hit us each time. 

No one was hurt.

I've suggested this before and I'll suggest it again- send 'em up and over:

Install dash cams, start youtube channel, profit.

Weld a giant pipe wrench to the bumper so people won't tailgate?

If the trucks were stopped, tailgating is not the problem. Big, shiny, obvious trucks that aren't even moving - it's pretty clear that the problem is distracted driving. And there's nothing you can really do about it. You can't drive differently because stopping at an intersection is pretty much non-negotiable behavior. You can't make the trucks any MORE obvious without doing something ridiculous like an earsplitting siren triggered by closing speed. 

You people have short memories.  This was just recently addressed in another thread:

Install these in cars so it's more difficult to Snapchat while driving:

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Lobby the gubment to ban texting while driving? I don't think the issue is your trucks.

Maybe flashing brake lights to grab attention? Just this morning I had to dump the clutch and pull half way into the lane next to me and out into the intersection to avoid the dip E36 M3 in the minivan trying to flatten the NC at a stoplight.

Ohio Dept of Transportation trucks look like this:

I have an older ODOT truck that I bought, salvage, after it was rear ended.  It did not have the graphics.  Coincidence?  

Wife's Suburban has been hit three times in three years. Every time when stationary.

Every time it's "I didn't see you".

How the f--- you manage to not see a K2500 Suburban is beyond me.

Can't fix stoopid.

In reply to Old_Town :

How much shifting do you do that it's more than a mild inconvenience? 

ShawnG said:

Wife's Suburban has been hit three times in three years. Every time when stationary.

Every time it's "I didn't see you".

How the f--- you manage to not see a K2500 Suburban is beyond me.

I just hope that the day I get tagged I'm in my Suburban and not my Miata.

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

Good luck. We've tried extra lights, stripes, painting the whole back of the bus bright yellow, none of it helps. 

there's actually a study out there I ran across saying that all the extra lights/shinies may make it WORSE as drivers get "target fixation". It was centered around emergency vehicles and their uptick in accidents of people hitting them could be related to the intesity of the lights now in use drawing drivers in rather than the desired effect. I would love to find it again.

As to the OP's problem : stop driving with other people. Only drive at night on deserted highways 

Use a Scorpion?

ShawnG said:

Wife's Suburban has been hit three times in three years. Every time when stationary.

Every time it's "I didn't see you".

How the f--- you manage to not see a K2500 Suburban is beyond me.

I was once sitting still in a parking lot in an '89 C2500, Long bed Extended Cab, waiting for the car ahead of me to pull into a spot - he was waiting on a car backing out of a spot. 

I hear a "crunch" and feel the right rear of the vehicle lift up a little bit. Look back, sure enough somebody had backed out of a spot into my stationary truck that was over 20 feet long. 

Maybe an 8” I beam in place of the back bumper or a big ugly trailer hitch?  

I’ve been rear ended 4 times in company vehicles, 3 times waiting for traffic to pass at stop signs (one was a mini school bus!) and once when a tractor trailer jackknifed in front of me in heavy traffic.  I wish people would pay attention but I don’t see things getting better.  

Cullin hedgerow  cutters, front and rear. Or just switch to M4 Sherman tanks, proper.

Blinking 3rd brake light seems to help us. We get 2-3 trucks a year totaled due to getting rear ended. 

bobzilla said:  Only drive at night on deserted highways 

On a dark, desert highway.  With Cool Whip in your hair.

Visibility isn't the problem, I was rear-ended in a bright orange GTI. His story was that he wound up 1 1/2 feet under my bright orange GTI because the brakes on his late model BMW didn't work.

I ride my motorcycle most days and the problem is obvious, drivers get up to speed and reach for their phone. Similarly, phones come back up when they figure they know how much braking to do. Invest in good insurance and a really long ball hitch, if you're the vindictive sort like some of us.