Monthly Archives: January 2018

A man & a woman were hospitalized when their Dodge Charger went under a semi.

Underride Crash Map,

“A crash between a car and a Little Caesars Pizza 18-wheeler sent two people to the hospital early Friday morning. . . It appeared the car struck the right side of the 18-wheeler as it tried to make a right turn into a shopping center where a Little Caesars restaurant is located.

A police officer at the scene told ABC-7 two people in the Dodge Charger, a man and woman, were hospitalized.

Emergency dispatch confirmed to the ABC-7 newsroom that at least one person had serious injuries.

The front end of the Dodge Charger ended up underneath the semi, leaving debris all over the street and a badly-damaged vehicle.” Crash between car, pizza semi-truck in east El Paso sends two to hospitalSee 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.

What people are saying about the STOP Underrides! Bill

Truck Safety

Out of the 43,008 U.S. signatures on the STOP Underrides! Bill Petition, over 4,000 people chose to make a comment in answer to the question, Why do you think Congress should pass the STOP Underrides! Bill?

Find out how they answered that question: Comments on the STOP Underrides! Bill Petition

What would you say? Sign the petition here: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

In Memory of Christopher S. Padilla

Underride Crash Map,

A man has died after a car crash on the Capital Beltway early Thanksgiving morning, police say.

Christopher S. Padilla, 30, of Alexandria, was killed when his 2013 Honda Civil crashed into the back of a parked tractor-trailer in Franconia, Virginia, early Thursday, Virginia State Police said. 

The driver of the tractor-trailer had mechanical trouble early Thursday and pulled onto the right shoulder of I-495 just south of Exit 173/Van Dorn Avenue, police said. 

He inspected his vehicle and was about to drive away when he felt the impact of the crash. 

The front of Padilla’s car was forced under the rear of the tractor-trailer. Man Killed in Thanksgiving Day Crash on Beltway in Virginia , November 23, 2017

Long Live Christopher Facebook Page in Memory of Christopher Padilla

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.

In Memory of Joseph Gilmore

Underride Crash Map,

A deputy with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office died after sustaining critical injuries in a New Year’s Day crash.

Sheriff Daron Hall told News 2 Officer Joseph Gilmore, who had been with the department for less than a year, passed away Tuesday morning.

A traffic report states Gilmore was driving east on Interstate 24 around 5:30 a.m. Monday morning when he crashed into the back of a semi near Pleasant View in Robertson County.

Gilmore’s Chevrolet Impala became lodged underneath the semi, past the truck’s bumper, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Davidson County deputy dies after serious car crash with semi

Sheriff Daron Hall tweeted about Gilmore, saying “he was a fantastic officer and fantastic person.” Gilmore had worked with the DCSO for 11 months in booking at the Hill Detention Center and planned to join Metro Police in July.

“By the response at the hospital and what’s happened in the last 12 hours or so, he was incredibly popular. What’s interesting to me is that he was popular with all ranks,” Hall said. “The people he worked for thought he was fantastic. Those were their exact words. So, he made an impression on the people he worked for, and he clearly had made an impression with the people he worked with.” Memorial planned for Davidson Co. deputy who died after crash

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.

We are grateful for these Co-Sponsors of the STOP Underrides! Bill.

Truck Safety

On December 12, 2017, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Rubio, Congressman Cohen, and Congressman DeSaulnier introduced the STOP Underrides! Bill as a bipartisan/bicameral effort to end preventable truck underride tragedies. Since that day, additional legislators have joined with them to co-sponsor this life-saving legislation.

Information on the bill — including bill text, co-sponsors, and legislative activity — can be found here: 

This is the list of current co-sponsors (to be updated as additional legislators jump on board):

SENATE

  1. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand(D-NY) (lead)
  2. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) (co-lead)
  3. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
  4. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
  5. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D–CT)
  6. Senator Edward Markey (D-MA)

HOUSE

  1. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) (lead)
  2. Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11) (co-lead)
  3. Congressman Richard Nolan (D-MN-8)
  4. Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA-17)

How many votes will be needed for the STOP Underrides! Bill to pass?  Needed: 51 votes in the Senate and 218 in the House

Recent Posts Related to the STOP Underrides! Bill

Truck Safety
  1. We are grateful for these Co-Sponsors of the STOP Underrides! Bill. On December 12, 2017, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Rubio, Congressman Cohen, and Congressman DeSaulnier introduced the STOP Underrides! Bill as a bipartisan/bicameral effort to end preventable truck underride tragedies. Since that day, additional legislators have joined with them to co-sponsor this life-saving legislation.Information on the bill — including bill text, co-sponsors, and legislative activity — can be found here. . .
  2. 4,180 Comments by Signers of the STOP Underrides! Petition in answer to the question, ” Why do you think Congress should pass the STOP Underrides! Bill?” Out of the 42, 950 U.S. signatures on the STOP Underrides! Bill Petition, about 4,180 people chose to make a comment in answer to the question, Why do you think Congress should pass the STOP Underrides! Bill? . . 
  3. STOP Underrides! Bill Petition Signers By State How many are enough signatures to make Congress listen? How many underride tragedies are enough to make us — the government, the trucking industry, and We the People — act decisively to end these senseless and preventable deaths?. . .
  4. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the STOP Underrides! Bill Here is a FAQ document with answers to frequently asked questions about the STOP Underrides! Bill: FAQ STOP Underrides Bill.I hope that it helps to get us all on the same page and moving more quickly toward effective collaboration to end truck underride tragedies with Win/Win solutions. . .
  5. Interactive Underride Crash Map Launched This Week We launched an Interactive Underride Crash Story Map earlier this week. We have only just begun to add links for the thousands of underride tragedies which are too well remembered in the decades of neglect of this problem.  Many families may not even have realized that they lost their loved one because of preventable underride.If you have information on an underride crash, or would like to add more details about the people touched by these tragedies, email the crash location (and any photos or memories which you would like us to include) to underridemap@gmail.com. We will be adding them to the map one at a time. Here is the map. . .
  6. STOP Underrides Bill to be Introduced 12/12/17; Petition launched on first day of #UnderrideAwarenessWeek We have launched the Stop Underrides Bill Petition today. Please sign & share. Public support is crucial to ending Death by Underride.  #underrideawarenessweekSign Here: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!
  7. Sen. Gillibrand questions Chris Spear, CEO of ATA, on truck underride protection. This morning, Senator Gillibrand took the opportunity at a Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Hearing on to ask Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Associations, some questions about truck underride. . .
  8. I am a truck crash survivor & mom (of two who died) on a mission to make truck crashes more survivable!I am the survivor of a terrible truck crash. I am the mom of two daughters who did not survive. The difference? Their part of the car went under the truck; mine did not.In the aftermath, I found out that the rear underride guard could have been made stronger to withstand the crash so that AnnaLeah and Mary might — like me — have been survivors of a terrible truck crash. . .
  9. Discovery of AnnaLeah’s Book Collection Catalogued Online in LibraryThing I can’t tell you how it felt to look online and find my daughter’s book collection all thoroughly catalogued. I knew that she had a LibraryThing account where she had kept track of her extensive set of books. But never until just a few moments ago had I looked it up. . .
  10. Holiday memories of AnnaLeah & Mary; Treasure the old for there will be no new.To be honest, I hate the fact that I spend almost every waking hour figuring out ways to move the needle on comprehensive underride protection. I also hate the fact that AnnaLeah & Mary have no more chances to create new memories while the rest of us go on with our lives — getting older and making new memories without them.I hate the fact that no one effectively took on the underride problem in time to let AnnaLeah & Mary live to see another day after their underride crash on May 4, 2013. And it keeps on happening to other families.  . .
  11. Why Has the Truck Underride Problem Been Left Unchecked for Decades? Truck underride is what frequently happens when a passenger vehicle collides with a large truck. Because the truck was unfortunately defectively designed to be above the level of the crush zone of the smaller vehicle, the passenger vehicle goes under the truck and the crashworthy safety features of the car are not able to work. Or, to put it another way, the truck enters the occupant space of the passenger vehicle — too often resulting in horrific death and debilitating injuries. . .
  12. Spotlight on Introduction of Bipartisan/Bicameral Bill to STOP Underride Tragedies I am very thankful for the media coverage of the Introduction of the Bipartisan/Bicameral STOP Underrides! Act of 2017. The problem of underride has been poorly understood, and I am hopeful that this action on the part of four legislators — Senator Gillibrand, Senator Rubio, Congressman Cohen, and Congressman DeSaulnier — will get the ball rolling toward greater awareness and decisive action. . .

4,180 Comments by Signers of the STOP Underrides! Petition in answer to the question, ” Why do you think Congress should pass the STOP Underrides! Bill?”

Truck Safety, ,

Out of the 42, 950 U.S. signatures on the STOP Underrides! Bill Petition, about 4,180 people chose to make a comment in answer to the question, Why do you think Congress should pass the STOP Underrides! Bill?

This list* was compiled on December 30, 2017 — about two weeks after the petition was launched. The signatures and comments (which generate an email to their legislators) keep coming in, including these two recent comments:

  • I hate unnecessary and intrusive government regulations, but I believe this is a simple, common sense regulation that will save lives. This is one instance where I believe a government regulation is warranted. It is not complicated or burdensome and it will save lives. Please pass this bill as soon as possible!
  • I knew the Karth girls. Secondly, if we already have the way to save lives available to us and do not use it, we should be ashamed of ourselves! The job of our government is to protect us. This is a simple, non-political way to do just that!

Here are the other 4,178 Comments: COMMENTS on STOP Underrides! Care2 Petition

One of Mary Karth’s many expressive faces reflects what countless Petition Signers wrote.        She was one of many precious lives lost too soon.

*  The first 91 pages contain the majority of the comments; the rest of the pages contain the remainder of the longer comments. Hoping to revise this format later.

Sign the Petition here: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Number of Signers by State

STOP Underrides! Bill Petition Signers By State

Truck Safety

STOP Underrides! Bill Petition Signers by State

as of December 31, 2017 (launched December 11, 2017)

State

Number of Petition Signers

Alabama

307

Alaska

101

American Samoa

2

Arizona

1130

Arkansas

234

California

6488

Colorado

1027

Connecticut

583

Delaware

148

Florida

3671

Georgia

844

Hawaii

193

Idaho

216

Illinois

1583

Indiana

769

Iowa

313

Kansas

292

Kentucky

472

Louisiana

320

Maine

268

Maryland

730

Massachusetts

1100

Michigan

1470

Minnesota

588

Mississippi

166

Missouri

660

Montana

135

Nebraska

165

Nevada

499

New Hampshire

248

New Jersey

1307

New Mexico

421

New York

 2783

North Carolina

1109

North Dakota

47

Ohio

1543

Oklahoma

349

Oregon

 980

Pennsylvania

1801

Rhode Island

179

South Carolina

463

South Dakota

 68

Tennessee

 711

Texas

2507

Utah

341

Vermont

145

Virginia

 955

Washington

 1366

West Virginia

256

Wisconsin

 679

Wyoming

 52

American Samoa

2

DC

46

Guam

1

Northern Mariana Islands

2

Puerto Rico

 20

Virgin Islands

4

An underride crash can happen to anyone at anytime anywhere. Everyone will benefit from this bill. Join the team; sign the petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Interactive Underride Crash Map

How many are enough signatures to make Congress listen? How many underride tragedies are enough to make us — the government, the trucking industry, and We the People — act decisively to end these senseless and preventable deaths?

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the STOP Underrides! Bill

Truck Safety,

Here is a FAQ document with answers to frequently asked questions about the STOP Underrides! Bill: FAQ STOP Underrides! Bill

I hope that it helps to get us all on the same page and moving more quickly toward effective collaboration to end truck underride tragedies with Win/Win solutions.

After all, this is not about getting the truck industry to get in line or else. To quote Rose in The Last Jedi: That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.