Monthly Archives: October 2023

In Memory of James Shearer (October 23, 2023)

. . . the driver of a 2013 Volvo semi was traveling at highway speed and “failed to identify the slowed traffic” caused by a construction zone in the area. State patrol investigators say the Volvo plowed into a Ford pickup and a Freightliner semi, causing a chain reaction crash involving four additional vehicles. A number of those vehicles burst into flames following the pileup, including both semis. 

The drivers of the Volvo semi and the Ford pickup did not survive the crash. Wisconsin DOT identified the victims as 76-year-old Zdzislaw Obodzinski, of Palatine, Illinois (the semi) and 45-year-old James Shearer (Ford pickup) from Hammond, Wisconsin. Patrol: Semi driver failed to notice slowdown, triggering fatal I-94 pileup

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Major truck manufacturers have Front Underride Protection designs which can work on American trucks.

James Shearer, Precious One Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

In Memory of Kory Watson, Lacey Price, & Rebecca Schutte (October 22, 2023)

State police said 40-year-old Kory Watson, of Virginia, was traveling on the highway shortly before 5 a.m. when he crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer that was parked in the right shoulder.

According to police, there were six people total in Watson’s car at the time of the crash. Watson, and one passenger, later identified as 32-year-old Lacey Price, of Florida, were both pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said another passenger in the vehicle, identified as 36-year-old Rebecca Schutte, of Florida, was taken to Hartford Hospital and later died of her injuries. 3 dead, 3 injured after crashing into back of tractor-trailer on I-91 South in Wethersfield

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride

Kory Watson, Lacey Price, & Rebecca Schutte, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

In Memory of David Faulx & Zane Rupert (October 13, 2023)

. . . a Jeep Wrangler was driving north on Winfield Road and was approaching a sharp right curve at the same time a semi-truck was approaching the same curve in the opposite direction.

State police said the Jeep was driving too fast and went into the southbound lane, hitting the semi-truck head-on. . .

The driver of the Jeep, identified as David Faulx, 65, from Cabot, and a 12-year-old boy from Saxonburg were pronounced dead at the scene. Man, child killed in late night crash with semi-truck in Winfield Township

Zane Rupert, 12, and David Faulx, 65, died after the car Faulk was driving was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle on Winfield Road in Winfield Township, according to state police. 12-year-old boy and his grandfather killed in car crash

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Major truck manufacturers have Front Underride Protection designs which can work on American trucks.

David Faulx & Zane Rupert, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

In Memory of Nancy Davis (October 14, 2023)

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Chevy Impala driven by Nancy Davis, 78, Marshfield, Missouri, was westbound on U.S. 400 three miles east of Parsons.

The car crossed center line and struck an eastbound 2021 Kenworth semi driven by Tracey Jerome Butler, 43, Bartow, Florida. Woman dies after car, semi crash on Kansas highway

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Major truck manufacturers have Front Underride Protection designs which can work on American trucks.

Nancy Davis, Precious One Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

In Memory of Gary, Michelle, Ryan, & Kate Rutledge (October 12, 2023)

Investigators say a Montana resident was driving a Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Highway 97 when he crossed the center line and sideswiped a southbound commercial truck and trailer, which was being driven by a California resident.

The truck driver then hit a Toyota RAV4, driven by Gary Rutledge, 57, of Troutdale, head-on, according to authorities. The RAV4 then caught fire and became fully engulfed, authorities say.

Rutledge and his passengers, 53-year-old Michelle Rutledge, 15-year-old Kate Rutledge, and 17-year-old Ryan Rutledge, were all declared dead at the scene. Troutdale family of 4 dies in crash in Deschutes Co

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Major truck manufacturers have Front Underride Protection designs which can work on American trucks.

How Underride Protection Could Prevent Fiery Crashes & Make Truck Crashes More Survivable

Gary, Michelle, Ryan, & Kate Rutledge, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

My Reactions to Comments on Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report

Inside Edition aired an underride investigative report on October 11, after having filmed underride crash testing at the North Carolina State Highway Patrol training facility on August 3, 2023. I think that they did a great job of bringing attention to this preventable problem. Watch it yourself: How AngelWing Side Guards May Prevent Underride Crashes & read it here: A Mother’s Mission to Save Lives and Prevent Underride Crashes

However, after reading the many and varied comments on the YouTube video of the broadcast, I decided to respond in detail by posting my thoughts here. I hope that, no matter how much you know about underride, you’ll take some time to hear what I have to say:

My Reaction to Comments on the Inside Edition Underride Investigative Report

Thanks for listening. I hope that you’ll do whatever you can to help me bring an end to preventable underride tragedies.

In Memory of Wesley Mallory (October 7, 2023)

Officials say a 2018 Ford Fiesta was heading west on I-40 and was speeding when they hit a 2018 International tractor-trailer that was stopped in the right lane because of traffic.

Forty-six-year-old Wesely Edward Mallory, the driver of the Fiesta, died from his injuries at the scene of the crash. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Calvin Runaye Franklin, 61, was not hurt in the collision. Deadly accident involving tractor-trailer closes I-40 West in Iredell County

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Wesley Mallory, Precious One Gone Too Soon

Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride

https://www.trailerguards.com/toughguard-retrofit

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

Weak Rear Underride Guards Are Still Killing People

Progress has been made in reducing underride deaths. But we’re not done yet; we’ve got a lot more work to do.

For example, seven trailer manufacturers are installing stronger rear underride guards as Standard on all new trailers. However, two trailer manufacturers, who have also designed a stronger rear underride guard, are merely offering it as an Option and are, in fact, still selling tens of thousands of new trailers every year with a too-weak rear underride guard — putting road users at risk of Death By Underride.

Not only that, despite the availability of Rear Impact Guard (RIG) retrofit solutions, millions of trailers on the road still pose a known unreasonable risk. It certainly doesn’t help that NHTSA recently issued a new RIG Rule but failed to require that these safety devices meet a technically feasible level of strength proven possible by nine manufacturers.

Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride

RIG Retrofit


RIG Retrofit Crash Test
In January 2020, Aaron Kiefer crash tested a reinforced trailer with a 2012 Chevy Impala at 38 mph. This test illustrated that bolt on reinforcements can prevent deadly underride and passenger compartment intrusion (PCI)

Why are we working so hard to get weak rear underride guards replaced?

What’s wrong with this picture?

10 years after trucking crash killed 2 girls, mother sees hope for change, May 5, 2023, Trucking Dive, by David Taube

In Memory of Julie, Joan, & Gary Sears (October 3, 2023)

A westbound Subaru Outback crossed the center line and hit the semi, the patrol said.

The occupants of the Subaru – Julie Sears, 57; Joan Sears, 79; and Gary Sears, 82 – were pronounced dead at the scene. Three killed in crash with semi on rural western Nebraska highway

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Major truck manufacturers have Front Underride Protection designs which can work on American trucks.

Julie, Joan, & Gary Sears, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.

 

In Memory of Kimball Clark (September 28, 2023)

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating a deadly crash involving a semi-truck that happened on State Route 85 near Buckeye early Thursday morning. DPS has since identified the victim as Kimball Clark of Buckeye.

Information is limited, but troopers tell Arizona’s Family that the crash occurred just after 5:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of SR 85 near Southern Avenue. Video from the scene shows the car completely pinned underneath the truck. Clark, who was driving the car, was pronounced dead at the scene. DPS identifies man killed in crash involving semi-truck on SR 85 in Buckeye

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 —frontside, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Kimball Clark, Precious One Gone Too Soon

AMERICA’S DANGEROUS TRUCKS (PBS/Frontline Underride Documentary)

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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators with this User-Friendly TAKE ACTION online tool.

Please sign this petitionSecretary 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.