Abstract
Many thousands of people are unnecessarily being killed every year in Brazil, year after year, due to collisions of light vehicles against the rear end of trucks and buses, as they are not equipped with adequate rear underride guards. Most of the deaths occur due to decapitation or to heavy head injuries. If one survive from this kind of collision, chances are that he will be handicapped for the rest of his life.
Many of these collisions are caused by poor rear conspicuity. About 30% of the accidents could have been avoided if rear conspicuity was abundant and sparkling, by stronger active and reflective lighting. The cumulative number of families with victims from this kind of accident, is enormous, but unknown to society, due to the lack of overall and analytical statistics.