If you have driven behind a semi-truck on I-10 or I-12 in Baton Rouge, you have probably seen the metal bar hanging under the back of the trailer. Truckers and mechanics often call it a Mansfield bar. Its official name is a rear underride guard, and federal law requires one on the back of almost every large trailer built today. The name comes from a real person, and a real loss, on a Louisiana highway.
At Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys, we meet people every week who are trying to make sense of a crash that changed their life in an instant. The story of the Mansfield bar is a good reminder that real people, and real loss, are often behind the safety rules we now take for granted.
The Night Jayne Mansfield Died on a Louisiana Highway
On June 29, 1967, actress Jayne Mansfield was riding in a car on U.S. Highway 90 near Slidell, Louisiana. Traffic slowed suddenly behind a truck that was spraying for mosquitoes. The car she was in could not stop in time. It struck the back of a tractor-trailer and slid underneath it. Mansfield and two other adults in the car died that night. Three children in the back seat survived, though they were badly hurt.
At the time, most trailers had nothing to stop a car from sliding underneath them in a rear-end crash. The car’s roof took the full force of the crash instead of the trailer’s frame.
How One Crash Changed Truck Safety
Mansfield’s death drew national attention to a danger that safety advocates had been warning about for years. Public pressure pushed federal regulators to act. Over time, rules were put in place requiring trailers to carry a rear guard, a sturdy metal bar mounted low across the back of the trailer, built to help stop a car from sliding underneath in a crash.
People started calling it the Mansfield bar, in honor of the woman whose death helped bring the rule about. Today, you will find one on the back of nearly every semi-trailer on the road, though most drivers have no idea why it is there or what it is called.
What a Mansfield Bar Does, and What It Cannot Do
A Mansfield bar is built to catch a car before it can slide under a trailer in a rear-end crash. When it works the way it should, it can be the difference between a serious wreck and a fatal one.
But a bar that is bent, rusted through, mounted too high, or missing entirely offers little or no real protection. We have seen cases where a truck’s rear guard was already damaged long before the crash that hurt our client, and no one had fixed it. Trucking companies are required to keep their vehicles safe and in good repair. When they do not, that failure can be part of why a crash turned deadly.
Why This Still Matters for Louisiana Families
Rear-end crashes with large trucks are some of the most dangerous crashes on our highways, in East Baton Rouge Parish, St. George Parish, Ascension Parish, and every parish in between. A car is simply no match for the size and weight of a loaded trailer.
If you or someone you love has been hurt in a crash with a semi-truck, the condition of that truck’s rear guard, and the trucking company’s maintenance records, can matter a great deal to your case. Our Baton Rouge truck accident lawyers know how to request those records and find out whether a company cut corners on safety.
Quick Answers About Mansfield Bars
What is a Mansfield bar?
It is the common name for a rear underride guard, a metal bar required on the back of most large trailers to help stop a car from sliding underneath in a rear-end crash.
Why is it called that?
It is named after actress Jayne Mansfield, who died in a 1967 crash on a Louisiana highway that helped lead to the safety rule.
What if the bar on the truck that hit me was broken or missing?
That can be an important part of your case. Call our office so we can look into it.
Call Corzo Before You Talk to the Insurance Company
Chris Corzo is a National Top 100 Trial Lawyer and an LSU Law graduate who spent 13 years at Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys before founding Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys to serve Baton Rouge and Ascension Parish families. If you were hurt in a crash with a semi-truck, do not wait to get answers. Call Corzo at +1 225-535-4831 and talk with our team today. If you would rather start with a few questions first, our 24/7 chat widget, Chat Corzo, is ready day or night. You can chat with us anytime, or you can reach out to our team here.
We built Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys on one belief, Dignity Prevails. That means we move fast, we fight for your full recovery, and we treat every person who walks through our door, in my office in Baton Rouge or in Gonzales, with the dignity they deserve.