Transportation
Seattle Puts Side Guards on Trucks to Protect Cyclists
The panels are meant to stop the fatal, crushing trauma associated with getting run over.
Look on the bright side: If you have the misfortune of colliding with one of Seattle’s trucks, you might get knocked off the road, but probably won’t get flattened under its tires.
That’s because the city’s department of transportation is equipping its fleet with side guards, or panels on both sides of a truck that prevent people from getting run over by the back wheels. (This assumes a side collision, not a head-on one.) All large vehicles belonging to the department are getting this treatment, and Seattle is also requiring manufacturers to install them on new vehicles it purchases.