No Quick Fix for Splash and Spray

Aerodynamic improvements have reduced splash and spray characteristics of large trucks, but no current or future technology appears likely to eliminate the problem.

That’s the assessment of American Trucking Associations in response to a Transportation Department request for comments on the subject for a report to Congress.

ATA said while some devices reduce the density of spray, one still cannot see through it, making the reductions futile. “The volume of water picked up from the road surface by the tires largely determines the amount of splash and spray,” said Victor A. Suski, senior automotive engineer for ATA. Higher speeds exacerbate the problem, he added.

Some fleets that experimented with textured wheel flaps in cold climates found that ice buildup was heavy enough to tear the flaps off the vehicle.

Research has been going on for 20 years, but “little has changed since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 1992 report to Congress,” Suski said.

What will diminish spray from trucks, he said, are more aerodynamic improvement, slower speed in wet weather and reducing the amount of standing water on the highway.