According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a concrete truck rear-ended the van containing the Kort family and then the family van’s rear-ended an SUV ahead of it as the light turned green at the intersection. . .
The Ontario-based law firm of the father, Pieter Kort, posted that 13-year-old Madeline and 10-year-old Joni were killed and that 16-year-old Hannah and the children’s mother, Jamie, are in the ICU. The father and son, 15-year-old Ethan, are recovering, the post said. 2 girls killed in Clay County crash were returning home to Canada from family vacation in Florida
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.
