The victim has been identified as Renee Morris, 38, of Portageville.
Deputies say it appears the driver of a tractor-trailer pulled out in front of Morris’ SUV. According to investigators, she couldn’t see the rig and crashed into the tail end of the trailer. Morris was dead when first responders arrived at the scene.
Two children in the SUV were rushed to the hospital following the crash. A 10-year-old was taken to Wyoming County Community Health and later transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital before being discharged. An 11-year-old was taken directly to Strong for head trauma and is still being treated.
Police Identify Woman Killed in Crash in Castile, 2 Children Injured
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.
Renee Morris, 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.
Wabash Engineer Left a Valuable Legacy: A Side Underride Guard Patent
