Harvard Installs Side Guards On Trucks

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Harvard University on Wednesday announced a new pedestrian and cyclist safety initiative, the first of its kind at colleges on the east coast and second at higher education institutions nationwide. The school will install side guards on large trucks owned by the university and operated by major vendors on campus.

"Side guards are a simple, cost-effective safety improvement we can make to protect the people in the community who bike and walk through our dense, urban campus," Meredith Weenick, vice president for Campus Services, said in a statement. "This action builds on our award-winning efforts to promote sustainable transportation as a healthy, safe, and affordable option for our students, faculty, and staff."

The truck safety program, called the Volpe Side Guard Standard, was tested on mail and delivery trucks and has since been extended to box trucks and waste and recycling trucks. When possible, new trucks will include side guards.

The university has also asked vendors to install truck guards as quickly as possible, and contracts for preferred vendors that bring eligible trucks to campus will include a requirement to develop and share a plan for meeting the Volpe Side Guard Standard.

According to a Harvard press release, cyclist fatalities dropped by 61 percent and pedestrian fatalities from side-impact crashes dropped 20 percent in the United Kingdom after a similar national mandate was implemented. When designed to be aerodynamic, certain guard types can also result in a 4-7 percent improvement in fuel economy, saving truck operators money and reducing emissions, the school said.

"This initiative is likely to save lives as side guards, blind-spot-reducing mirrors, and other truck safety measures are implemented more and more in U.S. cities by the public and private sectors," Alexander Epstein, the Volpe team lead, said in a statement. "I see Volpe’s collaboration with Harvard University on the truck safety initiative as a way to leverage the strengths of our two research-driven organizations."

The University of Washington installed side guards on its trucks in 2015, but no other major university has required them on its trucks or those that are operated by its vendors. Communities like Boston, Cambridge and Somerville have moved to require side guards, as well.

"As 10 of the 16 bicyclist fatalities in the last six years in Boston and Cambridge have involved a large truck, we’re thrilled to see Harvard tackle this serious safety issue, and challenge other private institutions and companies to follow Harvard’s leadership," Becca Wolfson, executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union, said in a release.

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