The report said vehicles were stopped in the southbound right lane due to a previous crash, and a tractor-trailer was part of that traffic. A pickup truck was traveling in the right lane when it “failed to slow and stop for the traffic ahead,” the report states.
The THP said the pickup truck struck the tractor-trailer in the rear, and both vehicles came to an uncontrolled rest in the right lane.
The driver of the pickup truck, Alexa Hoffman, 37, of North Carolina, was killed as a result of the crash, the report said. She was wearing a seat belt. A passenger in the pickup truck, a man also from North Carolina, was injured, the THP said. He was also wearing a seat belt. THP: 1 dead after rear-ending stopped traffic on I-81 in Blountville
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.
Alexa Hoffman, Precious One Gone Too Soon
Retrofit Solutions for Rear Impact Guards to Prevent Deadly Underride
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.
