Tag Archives: underride victim

STOP Underrides National Town Hall – SAVE THE DATE

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , ,

Have you lost someone close to you, or in your community, because of a truck crash? Hundreds of people die every year when pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and occupants of passenger vehicles go under trucks. 

It can happen to anyone — even if their car has a 5-Star Safety Rating — like it has happened to tens of thousands of Americans including my daughters, AnnaLeah (17) and Mary (13). It can happen to you.

Join a STOP Underrides National Town Hall via Zoom on
April 15 | 🕖 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

You will be able to tell your U.S. Senators and Representative that you want them to pass the STOP Underrides Act of 2026. This bill will make strong underride guards mandatory so that truck crashes become more SURVIVABLE.

Your voice at this unique advocacy gathering can help us get this long-overdue legislation across the finish line. Please answer the questions below. We’d love to have you join TEAM Underride in this way.

April 15 | 🕖 8 – 9 pm ET |RSVP HERE

Ask your Members of Congress to participate, and multiply your voice by telling others about this opportunity.

STOP Underrides National Zoom Town Hall SAVE THE DATE – FRONT & BACK

In Memory of Duane Derrick (January 31, 2026)

Underride Crash Map, , , , , , ,

WHP said troopers arrived to find a commercial motor vehicle vehicle had been struck head-on by a Chevy pickup truck. . .

The driver of the Chevy pick up, identified as Duane Derrick, 40, of Logan, Utah, died on scene. The driver of the commercial motor vehicle was transported to the hospital, was treated and released. Pickup driver going wrong way killed after head-on crash with semi truck in Wyoming

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.

Duane Derrick, Precious One Gone Too Soon

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

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 & ask them to co-sponsor the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

Please sign this petition: 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.

In Memory of Michael Molano (January 18, 2026)

Underride Crash Map, , , , , , ,

The man who was killed in the fiery crash with a semi truck in thick fog has been identified as 23-year-old Michael Molano of Fresno.

The crash happened on the morning of January 18 on Clovis Avenue near Highway 99.

Authorities say Molano’s pickup ran into a semi truck making a u-turn in dense fog. 23-year-old identified as man killed in fiery Fresno County 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 —front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries.

Michael Molano, 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 & ask them to co-sponsor the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

Please sign this petition: 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.

In Memory of Jordan Weller (February 1, 2026)

Underride Crash Map, , , , ,

A woman succumbed to her injuries after rear-ending a tractor-trailer last week in South Jersey, authorities told Patch. . .

Jordan Weller was driving westbound behind a Freightliner tractor-trailer when she lost control of her Mazda SUV and rear-ended the truck, Lebron said.

Weller, 26, of Millville, was brought to the hospital, where the succumbed to her injuries the next day. Woman Dies After Rear-Ending Truck In South Jersey: Police

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.

Jordan Weller, 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.)

How You Can Help

Support improving Underride Protection on trailers: Contact your legislators & ask them to co-sponsor the STOP Underrides Act of 2026.

Please sign this petition: 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.

In Memory of Michael David Schuster (December 31, 2025)

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, , , , , , ,

Michael David Schuster, 57, was pronounced dead of his injuries after collision on Wednesday, Dec. 31 between pickup and a tractor trailer, said Deputy Kingman Police Chief Joel Freed, confirming Schuster is the brother of Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster.

The semi was exiting the Travel Center of America truck stop when it collided with an eastbound 2006 pickup that ended up under the semi trailer. Golden Valley man, brother of Mohave County Sheriff killed in crash with semi-trailer

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.

Michael David Schuster, 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.)

Note: In order to raise awareness and preserve the memories of underride victims — precious ones gone too soon — I have periodically written memorial posts on what could potentially be underride crashes; but be aware that this is not a comprehensive, exhaustive record of all such 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 Kevin Cantwell (October 21, 2025)

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, Underride Crash Map, , , , , ,

A Massachusetts man was killed on Tuesday afternoon when his Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van failed to observe traffic was slowing down to a standstill and struck the rear of a 2020 Freightliner tractor-trailer on Interstate 84 westbound near exit 28 in the Town of Montgomery.

State Police said Kevin Cantwell, 71, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts was pronounced dead at the scene. Crash between van and tractor-trailer claims one life

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.

Kevin Cantwell, 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.)

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.

In Memory of Clarence and Lisa Nelson (October 21, 2025)

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, Underride Crash Map, , , , ,

A former assistant basketball coach at Pomona High School Clarence Nelson and his wife Lisa were among the three victims killed in a deadly Ontario crash at 10 Freeway on Tuesday, October 21.  . . drove the truck into slow-moving traffic on the I-10 Freeway in San Bernardino County. Dashcam footage released by ABC7 shows Singh slamming into an SUV, without any attempt to apply brakes. Ontario Crash: Pomona High School Assistant Basketball Coach Clarence Nelson & His Wife Killed In Fatal Accident

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.

Clarence & Lisa Nelson, Precious Ones Gone Too Soon

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

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.)

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.

In Memory of Colene Ruhl (September 16, 2025)

Safety Advocacy, Truck Safety, Underride Crash Map, , , , , , , ,

A woman in a motorized wheelchair was hit and killed Tuesday afternoon in Winter Springs, a spokesperson for the city told WESH 2. . .

Officials said they found the woman lying in the roadway, “deceased from what appeared to be injuries suffered from being struck by a semi-tractor-trailer.”

The woman was on the sidewalk when a semi heading east on SR-434 was attempting to make a right turn on Belle Avenue.

As the semi began to turn right onto Belle, the woman started to cross Belle and was hit by the trailer of the turning semi, thrown from the wheelchair and killed, officials said. Woman thrown from wheelchair, killed after being hit by semi making turn in Winter Springs

Colene Ruhl, 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 —front, side, and rear — leaving passenger vehicle occupants vulnerable to life-threatening injuries. This is also true for Vulnerable Road Users, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and wheelchair users, who can suffer catastrophic injuries when they collide with the unguarded side of a large truck.

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. 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.

Find out more about Vulnerable Road Users and preventable underride tragedies:

In Memory of Darren Hayes (August 30, 2024)

Underride Crash Map, , , ,

A truck driver is dead after an accident on an I-275 exit ramp Friday morning.

Springdale Police said Darren Hayes, 57, got out of his disabled tractor-trailer on the ramp from the eastbound lanes to Springfield Pike at about 10:17 a.m.

Another tractor-trailer came down the ramp, collided with the first truck on the emergency shoulder and knocked Hayes down where he became trapped under the tires of his own truck. . . Driver dies after becoming trapped under tire of his own tractor-trailer on I-275 ramp

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

Darren Hayes, 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 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.

In Memory of Fabian Hernandez Rios (September 1, 2024)

Underride Crash Map, , , ,

. . . just after 11:30 a.m., a 2005 Ford Focus driven by 34-year-old Fabian Hernandez Rios of Colby, was traveling eastbound on I-70.

The car crossed the median and struck a 2018 Peterbilt semi driven by a 43-year-old Texas man on the driver’s side. 

The driver and only occupant of the Ford Focus, Hernandez, was pronounced dead at the scene. Kansas man dies in head-on collision on I-70

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.

Fabian Hernandez Rios, Precious One Gone Too Soon

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

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 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.