DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A highway worker is in Miami Valley Hospital after reportedly being struck by a vehicle.
According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, an Indiana Department of Transportation employee was setting up traffic cones on southbound US 35 northwest of Richmond on Tuesday around 8:25 a.m. in the area of Brooks Road. The sheriff’s deputies were initially sent to the scene on a personal injury crash.
The worker is reported to have suffered many lacerations and abrasions to the head, legs and back, plus potential internal injuries. When first responders arrived on scene, he was alert, conscious and talking to the medics. The INDOT worker was flown to Miami Valley Hospital.
A preliminary investigation showed the driver of the 2015 gray Ford Escape who allegedly hit the INDOT worker had ignored the flagger who was stopping traffic on the northbound lanes and drove around the flagger and their vehicle. The driver drove past two warning signs on the road and proceeded to head northbound on US 35.
The sheriff’s office says the driver of the Ford still drove northbound for over a quarter-mile more, when they came upon another state highway worker who was working to place cones in the center lane on the southbound lanes.
Just before the strike occurred, the INDOT worker was in the back of the truck placing cones on the road in the center lane with another employee. The driver of the INDOT truck sounded the horn of the truck and began to move off the east side of US 35. It was thought by the driver that they were going to be hit head-on.
The INDOT worker jumped off the back of the truck and attempted to run across US 35 for safety. As the INDOT worker was running across the highway, the Ford driver allegedly veered hard to the west and ended up hitting the worker.
In the release, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says the other individuals of the INDOT vehicle said it looked like the driver of the Ford never slowed down and about hit them before realizing they were there.
After the crash, the Ford driver was taken for a toxicology screening at Reid Health.
The crash remains under investigation.
