A car on Sellards Road veered into the opposite lane near Clodius Road in rural Benton County, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
The car hit a semi truck traveling west about 9:30 p.m.
One occupant of the car, Laffette T. Battle, 53, of Federal Way, Wash., died in the crash, said Dennis Morris, Benton County chief deputy coroner. Information was not immediately available about whether he or the second person in the car, who was taken to a hospital, was the driver. 1 man dies, another person hurt in crash with semi in rural Benton County
Benton County Sheriff’s Office said one person is dead after a head-on semi truck crash. . . One dead after head-on semi truck crash in Benton 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.
Laffette Battle, 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.
