UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE. 

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

Zachary Thiel, 25, of Nebraska, was driving a semi northbound on Enos Lane when he stopped his vehicle to backup onto Panama Lane. Lance Stephens, 35, of Taft, was also traveling northbound on Enos Lane when he saw Thiel’s trailer in front of him.

In an attempt to avoid a crash, Stephens veered to the right and ended up colliding with the left rear of the semi.

Stephens suffered major injuries and was transported to Kern Medical, according to CHP. CHP release additional details in morning crash on Panama and Enos Lanes

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

Note: In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have been writing memorial posts on what appear to me to be underride crashes. I am not a crash reconstructionist, and I do not have all the facts on these crashes; but underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.