JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A lot of First Coast News Facebook users started talking about truck safety after a car was all but obliterated when it crashed into a semi and became wedged underneath on Tuesday in Jacksonville. The questions from viewers focused on a particular safety feature – a bar on the back of a truck, which is supposed to keep that from happening.
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First Coast News spoke with a Florida mother who lost her daughter to a similar semi-truck crash and has now made it her mission to spread awareness.
In 2004, an underride crash killed Florida native Roya Sadigh. It happened the day before Thanksgiving. She and her fiancé were driving through Indiana when their car slid underneath the side of a semi. Her fiancé survived. Since then Sadigh’s mother, Lois Hawkins, has dedicated her life to educating people about the dangers of underrides.
"We think that these kinds of crashes could be made more survivable and it’s just very sad to see another young life lost," Hawkins said.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office from 2008 to 2017 there’s been an estimated 219 fatal underride crashes. The agency also says that hundreds more of these crashes go unreported.
Since her daughter's death, Hawkins has helped draft legislation called the Stop Underrides Act. The bill calls for requiring side and front guards on all tractor-trailers and upgrading current rearguard equipment
Without underride protection, it’s a roving guillotine Because people go under and they die.
The bill has already garnered support from Senator Marco Rubio and Hawkins says truck advocates like her are waiting on Senator Rick Scott’s support.
"If a car goes underneath, all of the safety features are bypassed and people die," Hawkins said. "Whereas if the cars have something to engage with, it’ll trigger crumble zones airbags seat belts and people actually walk away from those crashes."
Hawkins has also started up a petition and has received more than 4,300 signatures from Florida residents urging legislators to pass the proposed legislation.