Richard Hamm, 62, died when his 2008 Dodge Caliber drove “directly into and underneath” a UPS tractor-trailer in front of Thorlabs at 2:22 p.m. Friday, according to a press release from the Andover Township Police Department. Hamm was traveling northbound toward Newton when the accident occurred, police said.
An investigation determined the tractor-trailer was perpendicular with the roadway and attempting to back into the loading dock area of Thorlabs at the time of the crash. The driver of the UPS vehicle, whom police did not identify in the report, was uninjured. Police identify victim in fatal Route 206 accident involving car, tractor-trailer
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.
