Preliminary investigations reveal that a 2017 Volvo tractor trailer was exiting a Royal Farms parking lot located at 29214 Lankford Highway. The trailer truck crossed over the southbound lanes to merge into the northbound lanes of Route 13 when it was struck by a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado truck.
The Chevrolet truck, driven by John David Eatherly of Cape Charles, was traveling in the southbound lanes of Route 13 and drove into the trailer portion of the semi that the Volvo was pulling. The crash impact resulted in the Silverado being lodged under the semi-trailer.
60-year old Eatherly was the sole occupant in the vehicle and died upon impact. Man dies after truck gets lodged under semi-trailer truck
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 underride should be investigated as a potential factor in truck crash injuries and deaths.
