Police say two people are dead after a car crash on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx early this morning.Authorities say just after midnight, a BMW with a man and woman inside rear ended a tractor-trailer. They say both individuals were pronounced dead on the scene. Police: 2 dead after BMW collides with tractor-trailer on Major Deegan Expressway
Daybelis Lantigua was the apple of her family’s eye and was just two days shy of her 23rd birthday when she died last week. . .
. . . the BMW she was a passenger in slammed into a semi on the Deegan, lodging the car firmly underneath the truck.
The driver of the car was George Tyras, 24. His grieving brother told Eyewitness News, ‘he was a loving kid, always had a smile, always wanted to see everybody happy.’ Family says tractor trailer to blame in deadly Bronx crash
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.
George Tyras & Daybelis Lantigua, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon
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.
