William Taylor, 87, of Cochranville, Pennsylvania, died in the crash. . .
the driver of Dodge Dakota was traveling south on Georgetown Road, and for unknown reasons, failed to stop at the posted sign and entered the intersection of South Belmont Road.
The driver of a tractor-trailer was traveling north on the intersection and the front end of the Dodge Dakota collided with the passenger side of the tractor-trailer. The vehicle then became stuck under the tractor-trailer.
The tractor-trailer continued north for a short distance before coming to a final rest in the northbound lane of Georgetown Road.
The Dodge Dakota eventually separate from the tractor-trailer and struck a road sign at the intersection. Police release details of fatal crash in Paradise Township Wednesday afternoon
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.
