AnnaLeah was an avid reader with a colorful imagination. She had already created in her own mind numerous literary worlds peopled by characters with names and personalities.
One Saturday morning, AnnaLeah (17) got on the road with her younger sister and brother — headed from North Carolina to Texas. With their mom driving, they were excited to be joining their dad and six older siblings to celebrate four college graduations and their oldest sister’s wedding.
All their dreams came to a screeching halt when a truck failed to slow down, hit their car, and sent them spinning backwards into the rear of a tractor trailer. The rear underride guard came off the truck and the car slid underneath. AnnaLeah, in the back seat, was killed by blunt force trauma and mechanical asphyxia. Her sister Mary (13) suffered life-threatening injuries — dying a few days later.
The girls’ mother and brother in the front seat were spared because their part of the car didn’t go under the truck. This wretched circumstance happens hundreds of times each year. It’s called truck underride.
The basic problem is that the bottom of a truck floor is higher than the bumper of a passenger vehicle. When there’s a collision, the smaller vehicle easily slides under the truck — first point of impact at the windshield.
What occurs next is too horrible to even imagine happening to someone you love. None of the car’s crashworthy features are triggered. The truck enters the car with NOTHING to protect the occupants.
It can be prevented if Congress passes the STOP Underrides Bill. Until then, what happened to Mary and AnnaLeah will keep happening to others.
AnnaLeah’s stories will never be written for us to read. Who she was and what was in store for her has ceased to be. It is more than I can fathom.
Marianne, AnnaLeah and Mary’s Mother