According to Sgt. Harrison with Georgia State Patrol, a preliminary investigation shows a tractor-trailer was parked in the emergency lane of I-75 due to a mechanical failure.
. . . a red Hyundai was traveling in the middle lane and a white Toyota was traveling in the right lane. The driver of the red Hyundai failed to maintain their lane and crashed into the white Toyota.
The driver of the red Hyundai then crashed into the trailer portion of the tractor trailer and suffered fatal injures. He was identified as 30-year-old Sean Lyle, of Gainesville. One dead after crash on I-75 in Dooly County
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.
