According to investigators, the flatbed was stopped in the right shoulder with a disabled tractor trailer. The 33-year-old driver of a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport left the right lane to avoid the flatbed, but collided with a 2013 Lincoln MKX in the center lane.
The impact caused the Mitsubishi to crash into the flatbed, police said.
Stephen Williams, 47, a passenger in the Mitsubishi, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police did not immediately release her identity.
A 32-year-old woman and 15-year-old girl in the back seat of the Mitsubishi were hospitalized in stable condition. . . Driver and passenger killed, 2 hurt after SUV crashed into flatbed on Cross Bronx Expressway
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 could potentially 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.
