A construction worker suffered life-threatening injuries when hit by a car Monday afternoon, according to the Anoka County sheriff’s office.
The 33-year-old from Fergus Falls was struck while working at the intersection of Seventh Street and 237th Avenue Northeast in East Bethel. She was flown by helicopter to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
She was a sign holder directing traffic for the construction crew.
The car’s 19-year-old driver did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol, but was most likely distracted, the sheriff’s office said. She was traveling west on 237th Avenue around 1 p.m. when she hit the worker.
The case is still under investigation, and the sheriff’s office will not release the names until the family has been notified.
An average of 121 roadway construction workers were killed in the United States per year between 2005 and 2014.
In addition to slowing down and driving with caution in construction zones, the Minnesota Department of Transportation suggests:
- Stay alert.
- Stay off cellphones.
- Be patient.
- Obey posted speed limits.
- Expect changes.
- Don’t make unnecessary lane changes.
- If a lane is closed ahead, don’t merge switch lanes until the point of merge (called the zipper merge)
- Don’t enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.
- ===================
East Bethel, MN (KFGO/WCCO) – A Fergus Falls construction worker is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being hit by a car while on-site in East Bethel, Minnesota Monday afternoon.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office said the 33-year-old Fergus Falls woman was found in “grave condition” at the intersection of Seventh Street and 237th Avenue Northeast in East Bethel just after 1 p.m.
The woman was holding a sign for a crew doing street work when she was struck by a vehicle driven by a 19-year-old East Bethel woman. The sheriff’s office said alcohol is not a factor, but the 19-year-old may have been distracted while driving.
The 33-year-old woman was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The names of the driver and victim have not been released.
==============
Road construction worker hit by distracted driver in East Bethel, MN
By Tim Harlow
August 1, 2017
A driver believed to have been distracted hit a woman holding a road-works sign in a construction zone Monday in East Bethel, leaving the worker in grave condition, the Anoka County Sheriff's Office said.
The victim, a 33-year-old woman from Fergus Falls, was hit about 1:10 p.m. as she stood at the intersection of 7th Street and 237th Avenue NE. She was in "grave" condition when deputies arrived, said Cmdr. Paul Sommer with the Sheriff's Office.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis with life-threatening injuries, he said.
A 19-year-old woman from East Bethel was driving west on 237th Avenue when she struck the worker.
Alcohol does not appear to have played a role in the crash, but "it does appear likely that distracted driving played a role in the accident," Sommer said.
The crash remains under investigation.
Between 2003 and 2015, more than 1,571 workers were killed in road construction zones, or an average of 121 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.