Karl and Mary Lou Seelandt died July 6 in the crash, according to a GoFundMe post. The married couple had been on a cross-country road trip from Lompoc, California and had just visited their granddaughter for her 1-year-old birthday, according to the post. . .
The Florida Highway Patrol stated the Tesla has been driving southbound on Interstate 75 near Gainesville with a 66-year-old woman in the driver’s seat and 67-year-old man as passenger, according to the FHP crash report. The report said that for unknown reasons, the 2015 Tesla traveled into the parking lot of the Paynes Prairie Rest Area just before 2 p.m. and struck the rear of a parked 2020 Freightliner tractor-trailer hauling Walmart goods. Morgan & Morgan retained by family of couple who died when Tesla crashed into parked semi
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.
We are asking that people send us crash reports for collisions with trucks which they suspect involved underride. Send them to marianne@annaleahmary.com. We will submit these as complaints to USDOT. Read more here: Launching a Campaign To Flood NHTSA With Underride Complaint Reports
