Authorities have released the name of a woman who was killed when her vehicle slammed into a parked tractor-trailer on Interstate 59/20 Friday afternoon in Jefferson County.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office on Monday identified the woman as Rita Faye Thomas. . .

Almost a third of the vehicle was crushed under the truck’s trailer.

Thomas and a passenger were trapped inside. Midfield and Fairfield firefighters responded to the scene as did police and Alabama State Troopers. The passenger was extricated and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Authorities ID woman killed when vehicle slammed into stopped 18-wheeler on I-59/20

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.

How You Can Help

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.