State police said Noah J. Blessing, 18, was driving a 1995 Dodge Stratus north on Stoughstown Road when he failed to come to a complete stop at the intersection with Route 11. His vehicle was struck by an eastbound 2015 International Harvester driven by Marvin H. Shoemaker, 68, of Shippensburg.
The Dodge began to spin and the tractor-trailer driver, in an attempt to avoid striking Blessing’s vehicle, veered to the north side of the road, where the rig came to rest after striking a wall on the roadside, police said. The Dodge continued to spin until it became wedged between the truck’s trailer and the stone wall. Teen driver dies in Route 11 crash with tractor-trailer: state police
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.
