Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310780218 - Dustrol, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Wichita Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:45 a.m. on September 11, 2007, Employee #1, who was part of a paving crew, was working on a highway resurfacing project. He was in the southbound lane and was using a long-handled shovel to put hot asphalt into spots the roller had missed. A coworker, employed by the Kansas Department of Transportation, was working nearby when both he and Employee #1 were struck by a car. The coworker died at the scene. Employee #1 was flown to a hospital in Kansas City, MO, where he died. The driver had ignored a flagger situated north of the accident and he did not wait for the pilot car to return. The motorist continued at a high rate of speed into the third (slow traffic) lane, which had been re-surfaced the previous day, ignoring commands and signals from other flaggers stop. The driver maintained his high rate of speed while traveling beside the resurfacing equipment train, which was closed to traffic; at the end of the train, the road narrowed and the motorist was forced to return to the southbound (public travel) lane. This was near to where Employee #1 and the coworker were situated whe they were struck.

Keywords: HIGHWAY, TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, SPEEDING, CONSTRUCTION, TRAFFIC CONTROL, STRUCK BY, ROAD PAVING