New information came to light over the weekend concerning last week’s fatal crash on Interstate 80 in Jefferson County that claimed the life of 36-year-old Hughesville resident Cody Rishel, 36, according to state police.
He was a front-seat passenger in a 2014 Ford Edge driven by Eric Stroup, 47, also of Hughesville, that plowed into the back of a tractor-trailer truck, driven by Lukasz Romanczyk, of Effort, Monroe County, who was not injured, police said. . .
Rishel, who was pronounced dead at scene, was trapped in the car and had to be extricated from the vehicle with the use of special rescue tools, police said. New details released on recent deadly I-80 crash
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.)
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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.
