You Never Think it Could Happen to You
Around 3:30 a.m. on February 27, three workers from a contracting firm helped to fix a highway guardrail alongside workers employed by North Carolina’s Department of Transportation. It was dark and chilly — an early winter morning — but the men were under ample lighting, in a designated work zone, in a westbound lane that had been blocked off along I-40 near Statesville, about 40 miles north of Charlotte.
Standing between two parked construction vehicles, the three workers were caught off guard — and likely didn’t notice — that a man driving a box truck, 27-year-old Logan Lee Casey, was hurtling toward them at highway speeds. Casey may not have noticed them either. Investigators said that the box truck did not brake before crashing into one of the parked construction vehicles and pinning the three workers — Noah Logan Hamilton, 22; Austin Milton, 21; and Dustin Gelinas, 20 — between them.
Casey survived. The workers died on impact.
While the investigation is still ongoing, it may have been an instance of driver negligence. When police charged Casey with three counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle, they said alcohol did not play a role in the crash. He was simply not paying attention.
Don’t let that happen to you.
You Can Never Be Too Safe While Driving
Something that all of us run the risk of overlooking is practicing safety while we’re driving. And one of the most important places to ensure safety is in work zones.
On average, there are nearly 700 fatalities in work zones every year, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse. Of those 700, an average of 123 are workers. Of the worker fatalities, 60 percent of those involved a worker being struck by a vehicle. In addition to loss of human life, there are severe penalties for drivers who disobey work zone safety rules, including double the monetary fine associated with the violation.
So many of these incidents could have been prevented by practicing safety in workplaces that include: Don’t speed. Merge early. Pay attention to your surroundings. Turn on your headlights. Always buckle up. Don’t tailgate. Use four-way flashers if you’re stopped or traveling slowly. Expect the unexpected. Be patient. Stay out of blind spots
Stay safe out there.
