KANSAS CITY, Mo – The Missouri Department of Transportation’s busiest summer ever is also proving to be a dangerous one for workers. So far, five different crews have been hit while re-striping state roadways.
On Thursday, a convoy of MoDOT trucks rolled down Highway 40 in eastern Kansas City, laying a fresh layer of white stripes.
“I’m the first one the public runs into when they run into our formation,” said Jim Evans, who holds up the rear in the re-striping operation.
Nobody knows better than Evans, who somehow walked away from a violent collision back on May 18. As his crew re-striped lanes on I-70 near Concordia, a semi truck smashed into Evans’ truck. The impact caused his massive truck to roll twice into the median.
The driver of the semi did not survive. Evans believes his seatbelt saved his life.
“I didn’t see it coming. They said it hit me between 70 and 80 miles per hour,” he said. “The first thing you do is make sure your legs and hands still work.”
Evans’ battered truck still sits at a MoDOT facility in Lee’s Summit. He recently saw the damage up-close for the first time since emergency workers cut him free from the front seat.
“It kind of drove the point home that I was really fortunate,” he said.
It is a scary reality for road crews, who say they see close calls almost every day on the job. Dennis Pence, a regional supervisor for the striping crew, said drivers weave between trucks, pass on the shoulder, and sometimes hurl insults out the window.
“Oh, they yell at you and give you the finger,” said Pence. “We just drive and smile and keep on rolling.
Aside from Evans’ accident, there were several other narrow escapes this year.
On March 30, a striping vehicle was rear-ended by a driver on I-270 south of St. Louis. No one was hurt, but the driver received two tickets.
A driver on I-44 near St. Clair barely avoided hitting a striping crew March 26 by swerving at the last minute. That driver rolled her car several times.
A semi clipped a striping vehicle April 22 on I-29 near Mound City. No one was hurt, but the striping vehicle was badly damaged.
A striping crew in downtown St. Louis barely escaped injury on May 12 when a semi-truck driver who was passing a striping operation passed three construction vehicles and then clipped the yellow paint carriage on the striper, nearly ripping it from the truck. The semi narrowly missed the driver's head and the crash spilled paint and glass reflective beads onto the roadway.
The tractor-trailer fled the scene and hit another car at the next intersection where he was arrested. The highway workers were shaken, but not seriously hurt.
MoDOT says inattention, impairment, speeding, following too closely and texting while driving are all suspected as the causes of the crashes.
Between 2004 and 2008, 79 people were killed in work zones. Since 2000, 15 MoDOT employees have been killed in the line of duty. Hitting and injuring or killing a highway worker in Missouri could result in a fine up to $10,000 and loss of your license for a year.
