Emergency crews were called to the scene of the incident on I-465 westbound near Michigan Road at 11:52 p.m. First responders found a full-size cargo van had crashed into the back of a tractor trailer, and two unconscious and unresponsive men were trapped in the van, police said.
Indianapolis Fire Department crews freed the men from the van, but the passenger, identified as 25-year-old Brenden Harper, of Indianapolis, was pronounced dead at the scene. The van’s driver, Andrew Blackwell, 33, of Greenwood, was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. 2 dead after van crashes into semi-tractor trailer stopped on I-465 late Thursday night
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.
