According to officials, a Mercedes-Benz was traveling in front of a tractor-trailer near Exit 69 when the driver lost control of their car. The tractor-trailer then crashed into the Mercendes-Benz on the driver’s side in the right lane.
Police said the Mercedes-Benz then became stuck underneath the trailer portion of the truck. The driver of the tractor-trailer sustained no injuries.
The driver of the Mercendes-Benz was transported to Hartford Hospital with life-threatening injuries and was later pronounced dead at the hospital, police said. The driver was identified as Stephen Gharabegian, 59, of Lexington, Massachusetts. Man dies in tractor-trailer crash on I-84 in Tolland
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.
Stephen Gharabegian, Precious One Gone Too Soon
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.
