Authorities pronounced Belle Glade-area resident Richard Allen dead at the scene, the intersection of State Road 80 and Hatton Highway.
A Freightliner truck was northbound on Hatton just before 6 a.m. and started to cross State Road 80 on a flashing red light, PBSO said.
It drove into the path of Allen’s 2017 Chevrolet Impala, PBSO said. The vehicles collided and the Impala became stuck beneath the trailer.
A third vehicle, a Toyota Tacoma SUV, hit the rear of Allen’s car. Man, 56, dies after car, tractor-trailer crash near Belle Glade
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 I think that underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.
