Manuel Alejandro Gonzalez, a 34-year-old resident of Chaparral, New Mexico, was killed after his Ford Raptor traveling at a high speed ran a red light at the intersection.
Gonzalez’s passenger Melissa Tristan, a 36-year-old Socorro resident, was injured in the crash.
Police say that a 2023 Purple Kenworthy, driven by El Pasoan Esteban Rios, 51, and a Silver Mac LTT tanker truck were on the northbound lanes of the Gateway making a left turn when Gonzalez entered the intersection heading east on Kenworthy and crashed into the tanker. High-speed crash on Gateway and Kenworthy claims life of Chaparral man, injures Socorro resident
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.
Manuel Alejandro Gonzalez, 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: Secretary Pete, It’s Past Time To End Death By Underride!
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.
