Road construction crews on the highway usually must work near traffic rushing by. Though state law penalizes drivers for causing accidents in construction zones, and crews put up barriers, cones and signs, accidents still happen. A construction worker has almost no time to react to a car or truck bearing down on them, and likely will suffer terrible harm when hit.

A driver who fails to notice or ignores warnings to slow down for road workers can easily cause a worker’s death. That is what happened last summer, when a truck driver struck two construction workers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing one of them. After being charged in the crash, the driver turned himself in to Pennsylvania State Police earlier in March.

The deceased was a 61-year-old employee of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Last June, he and a crew were doing maintenance work on the Turnpike in the eastern part of the state. While they were working, a tractor trailer driven by the defendant entered the lane the crew had closed off and struck the victim, along with another crew member. The second worker sustained minor injuries.

It appears the investigation into this terrible incident took several months, but it did eventually lead to charges of homicide by vehicle. Police believe the driver was speeding at the time of the crash. The accident led State Police to put radar traps in construction vehicles. They found dozens of drivers speeding through construction zones near the site of the fatal incident.

After surrendering to police, the driver apologized to the victim’s family.