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 —front, side, 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.)
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.
