Six-year-old Edison Kimball died Thursday after a semi-truck crashed into his family’s SUV on I-215. Kimball was in the car with his mother, Kristi, and sister, Ruby who were both hospitalized after the collision. Ruby is in critical condition in the ICU at Primary Children’s Hospital.
According to Utah Highway Patrol, the family’s SUV was struck, causing them to crash into four other vehicles, hospitalizing nine people. 6-year-old dies in semi-truck accident, 9 others hospitalized
About 4:18 p.m., a Volvo semitruck hauling six vehicles on an auto carrier was driving west on I-215 in Midvale, the Utah Highway Patrol said.
Based on early investigation, troopers believe that the semitruck was traveling at a “high rate of speed” when it approached slow-moving traffic in the right lane just before the merging lane onto westbound Union Park. It then struck a Hyundai Palisade occupied by a woman and three children, UHP Sgt. Cameron Roden said.
“Following the initial impact with the Hyundai Palisade, the Volvo semitruck impacted four other vehicles which came to rest blocking all of I-215 westbound,” the UHP said. Child dies, 3 others critically injured in multivehicle crash on I-215 in Midvale
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
