A recent close call for a Georgia deputy and transportation worker highlights the dangers that highway workers face and the need for drivers to use extreme caution when proceeding through a work zone.
On Jan. 24, a tractor-trailer slammed into a parked patrol vehicle as a Crisp County Sheriff's deputy and Georgia Department of Transportation worker were directing traffic around a fatal wreck on I-75 at exit 104.
At the time, several patrol cars were spaced out along the roadway to divert traffic off the exit ramp. Roger Minshew, a state DOT employee, and a Sheriff's deputy were standing beside the last patrol car at the exit ramp when a big-rig driver changed lanes to go around slowed traffic. The tractor-trailer struck the patrol car, and barely missed Minshew.
The deputy checked the driver for injuries. He and Minshew then returned to directing traffic off the ramp.
"I want to thank Roger for his service to the department and the people of Georgia," GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry said Thursday in a state transportation board meeting. "We are thankful he was not injured."
The deputy also was unharmed.
Since 1973, at least 57 state transportation workers have lost their lives in work zones. However, motorists and their passengers are actually more likely to be killed or hurt in such crashes than workers, according to GDOT.
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