A 2017 Freightliner truck hauling a box trailer was turning north onto Atomic Road from Sheraton Drive near Kimberly-Clark when a southbound 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe traveling on Atomic Road disregarded the traffic light at the intersection and ran into the side of the trailer, Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables said.
The driver of the Tahoe, identified as 66-year-old Hearrie Thomas Jr. of Hephzibah, was the sole occupant of the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene from blunt force injuries, Ables said. Crash involving semitruck kills Hephzibah driver on Atomic Road
Because the bottom of a truck is higher than the bumper of passenger vehicles, when there is a collision the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck and the first point of impact is the windshield. Seatbelts, airbags, and car crumple zones do not function as intended in underride crashes — front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.
See Underride Crash Memorials posted here and at #STOPunderrides Tweets. To add photos or more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to be remembered, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com. Please use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form to provide us with accurate information . (Note: the map is currently not online; but we would keep the information for future updating and to aid in underride advocacy efforts.)
Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.
Please sign this petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underrides.
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.
