Who:
Darla A. Alexander, 55, of Chesapeake, was killed around 10:55 AM on I-664 around Suffolk, VA, when her 2013 Toyota Camry crashed into the back of a 2010 Kenworth tractor-trailer driven by John Chase Jr, 41.
How:
Per police reports, the trailer was stopped in the northbound lanes of I-664, “south of the Monitor-Merrimack Memorial Bridge Tunnel” due to a truck crossing the tunnel. Alexander slammed into the back of the trailer and was killed at the scene. Chase was uninjured. Speed was cited as a factor in the crash.
Why:
This was, sadly, a textbook example of a passenger vehicle-large truck fatality due to a rear underride. It looks like a full frontal overlap in the picture. Trailer rear underride guards are designed to withstand a 35 mph full or moderate overlap without causing catastrophic injuries (death) to the impacting vehicle, which indicates Alexander must have been traveling at significantly more than 35 mph to have impacted with enough force to lead to that level of cabin intrusion (which would be classified as catastrophic, as the intrusion extended past the B frame of the vehicle). Catastrophic levels of intrusion are virtually unsurvivable. Despite the impressive safety features of the 2013 Camry, there was virtually no chance of survival once she exceeded, I’d estimate, 45 mph. The reasons for the crash are not known at this time, but they almost certainly were due to driver inattention, whether due to cell phone use, radio use, sleepiness, or alcohol / medical impairment.
It is essential to repeat that this crash was preventable, but that virtually no passenger vehicle exists that would have protected her at the speeds at which she likely crashed, as the significant marker of trailer underride crashes is that the part that results in death–the trailer itself–is above the crash-absorbing structures of virtually every vehicle on the road.
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