Section 6: Rear impact guards

Ontario

Vehicle Weights and Dimensions — For Safe, Productive and Infrastructure-friendly Vehicles

Part III — Preconditions for Designated Vehicles or Designated Combinations

6. (1) The rearmost trailer of any designated tractor-trailer combination that is a long combination must be equipped with a rear impact guard meeting the requirements of subsection (2) if,

(a) the trailer was manufactured after July 14, 1993 and before January 27, 1998;

(b) the trailer has an axle unit that can slide or is fixed so that the rear of the rearmost tire is more than 0.3 metres in front of the rear of the trailer; and

(c) the trailer's rear structure is more than 0.56 metres above the ground when the trailer is unladen on a level surface. O. Reg. 413/05, s. 6 (1); O. Reg. 457/10, s. 6 (1).

(2) A rear impact guard must consist of a single horizontal beam that is rigidly attached to the trailer and that,

(a) extends within 0.1 metres of each side of the trailer;

(b) is not more than 0.3 metres in front of the rear of the trailer and is as close to the rear as possible; and

(c) is not more than 0.56 metres above the ground when the trailer is unladen on a level surface. O. Reg. 413/05, s. 6 (2); O. Reg. 457/10, s. 6 (2).

(3) The rearmost trailer in a combination described in subsection (5) must be equipped with a rear impact guard that meets one of the following standards, as that standard read on the date of the trailer's manufacture:

1. United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 224.

2. Standard 223 under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada). O. Reg. 457/10, s. 6 (3).

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if one of the standards described in that subsection exempts the rearmost trailer in a combination described in subsection (5) from having a rear impact guard. O. Reg. 457/10, s. 6 (3).

(5) Subsection (3) applies to,

(a) any designated tractor-trailer combination that is a long combination whose rearmost trailer was manufactured after January 26, 1998;

(b) designated tractor-trailer combination 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 or 10;

(c) any designated tractor-trailer combination that includes a trailer that was manufactured after 2005; or

(d) any designated truck-trailer combination that includes a trailer that was manufactured after August 31, 2007. O. Reg. 457/10, s. 6 (3).

© King's Printer for Ontario, 2012-2021. The text is not the official version of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act or associated regulations. For official text, refer to www.ontario.ca/laws.