All posts by Marianne

In Memory of Brandon Pranghofer

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

A head-on crash involving a car and a semitrailer truck Thursday morning in northern Washington County proved fatal, authorities said.

The crash happened just before 8 a.m. on Manning Trail N. near 180th Street on the border of May Township and Scandia, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

After impact, much of the front of the car was wedged under the front ­bumper of the truck, while the big rig suffered minor damage.

The victim was identified Friday as Brandon Pranghofer, 30, of Forest Lake. Pranghofer and his fiancée had recently given birth to a daughter. —  August 12, 2016, New dad dies in head-on crash with semi in Washington Co.

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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 appear to me to 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.

In Memory of Gabriel Hon

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

On December 21, 2017, at approximately 12:51 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a two vehicle fatality crash westbound Interstate 84 at milepost 42 in Meridian. Gabriel Hon, 21, of Nampa, was traveling westbound in a 2002 BMW M3. William Lager, 68, of Estacada, OR, was traveling westbound in a 2000 Freightliner towing a single trailer. Hon struck the back of Lager’s trailer then struck the barrier on the median side. Hons was not wearing a seatbelt and succumbed to his injuries on location. Lager was wearing his seatbelt and was not injured. 21-Year-Old Killed after Crashing Into Semitrailer in Meridian

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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

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 appear to me to 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.

In Memory of Kyle Louis Juliussen

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

WOODLAWN, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is investigating a fatal crash that occurred early Monday morning on Hwy 79 (Dover Road) in Montgomery County.

According to a preliminary report from THP, 25-year-old Kyle Juliussen of Oak Grove, Ky. was killed when a tractor trailer that was exiting the Bi-County Landfill pulled out in front of his vehicle. Juliussen’s car hit the tractor trailer and ran underneath it.

The driver of the tractor trailer has been identified as 41-year-old Hollis E. Albea Jr. He was not injured. The THP report said he was charged with due care.

The investigation is ongoing. 25-year-old man killed in crash near Bi-County Landfill

Kyle Louis Juliussen of Oak Grove, Kentucky, passed away on Monday, December 18, 2017 due to a tragic automobile accident. He was 25 years old.
Kyle entered into this life on September 22, 1992 in Johnson City, New York, son of Arne and Joann O’Brien Juliussen. He was a proud US Army veteran and enjoyed his job as a Clerk at the US Post Office. Kyle absolutely loved Star Wars and all things sci-fi, but most of all Kyle loved his family.
Survivors include his wife, Rachel Juliussen, children, Kayden and Valerye, and his siblings, Arne Juliussen, Jr., Stoney Juliussen, and Kierstin Rowe.
Kyle’s remains will be cremated. No services are currently planned. Condolences may be made online at NaveFuneralHomes.com. https://obittree.com/obituary/us/tennessee/clarksville/mcreynolds-nave-larson-funeral-home/kyle-juliussen/3377551/

Photo of Kyle and his family: http://www.wenkwtpr.com/2017/12/19/dover-post-office-clerk-killed-in-accident/

Kyle Juliussen, 25 years young, was tragically killed in a car accident early Monday morning, Dec. 18, 2017, in Tennessee. He was a loving husband, father, son, brother, and uncle. He was an Army vet having been honorably discharged from Fort Campbell, KY. He left behind two beautiful babies and a wonderful wife. We are raising money for funeral expenses and unexpected costs. His wife and children need to bring Kyle home to his parents and family in Port Crane NY. Your help is much appreciated. Thank you and God bless.   https://www.gofundme.com/4a7pp-funeral-expenses-for-kyle-juliussen

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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 appear to me to 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.

Sen. Gillibrand questions Chris Spear, CEO of ATA, on truck underride protection.

This morning, Senator Gillibrand took the opportunity at a Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Hearing to ask Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Associations, some questions about truck underride.

Thank you, Senator Gillibrand, for continuing to move us forward toward an end to preventable underride tragedies.

I met with Chris Spear on March 29, 2017, to discuss our newly drafted underride bill. And I wrote a post in May in response to the kinds of concerns he raised in the hearing today. He asked Senator Gillibrand to encourage NHTSA to speed their evaluation of whether the added weight of side guards would compromise the structural integrity of trailers.

Here is that postQuestion for the ATA: Is it necessary to choose EITHER crash avoidance OR occupant protection — not BOTH?

And here is the response to Mr. Spear’s concerns — from the inventor of the AngelWing side guard, Perry Ponder:

AngelWing has undergone extensive standard industry testing and analysis including durability track testing. Designed by a trailer engineer (me), AngelWing works in harmony with existing trailer designs with no effect on the trailer structure or durability

Help hasten the installation of effective truck underride protection. Sign & Share our petitionCongress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

In Memory of Riley Eric Hein

My son Riley Eric Hein was killed on November 13, 2015 by a semi truck without an underride guard.  He was 16 and driving to High School.  The accident occurred on West Bound I-40 near Carnuel, New Mexico.  Please add Riley’s name to your map.

Eric Hein

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The person killed in a fiery crash that closed I-40 Friday morning is Manzano High School junior Riley Hein, school officials confirmed Monday.

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to westbound I-40 near the Tijeras exit around 6:30 a.m. for a crash between a car and a semi-trailer. Authorities closed westbound lanes of traffic all morning while they investigated.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Aaron Williamson said a passenger car and a semi-trailer that were both driving on westbound I-40 collided with one another at a curve, and the passenger car got trapped underneath the semi.

The semi dragged the car for a quarter mile, and when authorities arrived, the truck was on fire. The driver of the passenger car, whom school officials identified as Hein, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Manzano student identified as person killed in I-40 crash

Riley’s dad, Eric Hein, shared these photos and memories of Riley.

The plaque is from Riley’s memorial bench at Mountainside United Methodist Church in Tijeras, New Mexico.  A place of solace where his friends and family can visit.

A family trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico.  Riley was passionate about fishing and loved the beach. (Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.  –V. Harrison)

From Riley’s personal best Cross Country race in 2015 when he was 16 and a Junior at Manzano High School, Albuquerque.  (Perfect speed isn’t moving fast at all; perfect speed is being there. –Richard Bach, Jonathon Livingston Seagull)
 
Visiting a burrito food truck in July 2015, Eagle Rock, California.  Riley was always a foodie, particularly Mexican. (It’s been a long day without you, my friend; And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again; We’ve come a long way from where we began; Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again; When I see you again–Wiz Kahlifa)
Riley Hein, Precious One Gone Too Soon
 
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.
 
See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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 appear to me to 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.

In Memory of Joshua Brown

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

“On May 7 at 3:40 p.m. on U.S. 27 near the BP Station west of Williston, a 45-year-old Ohio man was killed when he drove under the trailer of an 18-wheel semi. The top of Joshua Brown’s 2015 Tesla Model S vehicle was torn off by the force of the collision,” the Levy Journal article reported. The driver who died in the Tesla Autopilot crash narrowly avoided a crash in April

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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 appear to me to 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.

In Memory of Mark Schaas

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

NORTH JACKSON, Ohio (WKBN) – A beloved New Castle sports announcer has died after a fiery crash involving five vehicles, including three semi trucks, in North Jackson.

The chain-reaction crash happened on I-76 westbound at mile post 59 — near the Route 45 overpass — around 10:45 a.m. Thursday.

Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the victim as 53-year-old Mark Schaas. He was killed at the scene after his vehicle was forced into a semi truck.

Beloved New Castle sports announcer killed in fiery I-76 crash; Four others were taken to the hospital, three of which had serious injuries, June 29, 2017, WKBN27, Abbie Schrader

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form..

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 appear to me to 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.

Interactive Underride Crash Map Launched This Week

We launched an Interactive Underride Crash Story Map earlier this week. We have only just begun to add links for the thousands of underride tragedies which are too well remembered in the decades of neglect of this problem.  Many families may not even have realized that they lost their loved one because of preventable underride.

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

Here is the map.

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

In Memory of David Cabrales

UPDATE March 13, 2026: Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. Please consider joining a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom April 15 | 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering will let your U.S. Senators and Representative know that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

A 20-year-old man who was on his way to work died Tuesday when his car slammed into an illegally parked semi-truck in Chula Vista, police said.

Witnesses told officers the truck driver has parked in the bike lane along Eastlake Parkway before — to walk to a nearby Jack-in-the-Box restaurant for food.

Investigators were listing the illegal parking as a primary cause of the crash, but they also were looking into why the Hyundai sedan driver didn’t stop or change lanes before hitting the truck trailer.

He was identified by family members as David Cabrales, of Chula Vista.

“He will forever be remembered for his contagious smile, kind heart, and his ability to light up any room,” his cousin Patricia Bez wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for his funeral. Driver dies in crash into back of semi-trailer in Chula Vista

See more underride tragedies at Underride Crash Memorials and on our Interactive Underride Crash Map. To add more information on this story or to add other underride crashes to this map, send an email to underridemap@gmail.com; use this Interactive Underride Crash Map Crash Location Input Form.

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 appear to me to 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.

Spotlight on Introduction of Bipartisan/Bicameral Bill to STOP Underride Tragedies

It has been an exciting day and the bill has gotten needed attention. Signatures continue coming in expressing public support. Glad that Jerry KarthSusanna Karth and Caleb Karth could be there today. Rebekah Karth Chojnacki is gathering the news reports for us (we just got home from DC). Peter Karth developed the interactive underride crash map (patiently working with his mother) — to which I now need to keep adding crash information. Isaac Karth updated the website. Levi Karth brought us exciting news of his engagement. And Samuel Karth keeps us smiling with news of Jerome.

In Memory of AnnaLeah & Mary and Roya, too – RAM: The Naming of an Underride Bill; Out of the Mouths of Babes

I am very thankful for the media coverage of the Introduction of the Bipartisan/Bicameral STOP Underrides! Act of 2017. The problem of underride has been poorly understood, and I am hopeful that this action on the part of four legislators — Senator Gillibrand, Senator Rubio, Congressman Cohen, and Congressman DeSaulnier — will get the ball rolling toward greater awareness and decisive action.

There have been a flurry of reports:

 

Help get public support behind this bill! Sign & share our Petition: Congress, Act Now To End Deadly Truck Underride!

Underride 101

December 13, 2017, UPDATE: We now have an Interactive Underride Crash Story Map. We have only just begun to add links for the countless underride tragedy stories. If you have information on an underride crash, or would like to add more details about the people touched by these tragedies, email us at underridemap@gmail.com. Here is the map.