Large vehicles on Louisiana roadways pose a huge threat to passenger vehicles in the event of a crash. You have likely heard about such accidents. The government sets rules and regulations to try to make large trucks safer. Some regulations have been the result of what was learned in an accident. This is true for the Mansfield bar.
Jayne Mansfield, mother of actress Mariska Hargitay, was a Hollywood star in the 1950s and 1960s, according to Mental Floss. This was around the same time as Marilyn Monroe to whom she was often compared due to similar physical apperances. Unfortunately, at the young age of 34, Mansfield was killed in a rear-end collision with a semi-truck. The car she was riding in slid underneath the back end of the truck, instantly killing her and two other adults in the vehicle.
Accidents like Mansfield’s are not uncommon due to the height at which the bed of a truck sits. It is high enough for the front end of a car to slip under. In order to stop such accidents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set new regulations for semi-trucks. An under-ride bar, which goes by the nicknames the Mansfield bar or the DOT bar, was made mandatory on all large trucks.
You have likely seen these bars. They are sometimes striped or have reflectors on them to help them be easier to see, and they hang down from the bottom of the bed of the truck at the back. This information is only intended to educate and should not be interpreted as legal advice.
