Roadwork in Fayetteville can be a real headache if it is slowing down your morning commute or making you late picking your kids up from school. Still, motorists must drive cautiously in construction sites, to avoid striking construction workers performing roadwork.
Being struck by something is a common fatal construction accident. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, nearly three-quarters of struck-by deaths involved a construction worker being struck by heavy equipment. Struck-by deaths are commonly caused by vehicles.
Struck-by deaths and road work
Vehicle struck-by deaths can occur if a worker is struck by a car while performing roadwork. An inattentive driver may not see a construction worker performing roadwork and strike them. Similarly, a careless driver might speed through a construction zone and strike a worker that way.
Construction workers performing roadwork can take certain safety precautions such as the use of barricades, flaggers and by wearing warning clothes. However, this will not stop some drivers from driving negligently in construction zones, resulting in a fatal crash.
Third-party lawsuits and road work
If a construction worker is struck by a driver while performing roadwork, they may have grounds for a third-party lawsuit against the driver based on negligence. To commit a negligent act the following factors must be present.
First, the motorist must have had a duty of care towards the construction worker, which would be to drive cautiously and follow traffic signs. If a motorist failed to meet this duty of care, and the failure left the worker with injuries or killed the worker, the worker or their family in the case of a fatality may have grounds for pursuing a personal injury lawsuit.