A serious accident involving two workers from the Turnpike Commission is standing as a tragic reminder of what can happen when motorists fail to exercise caution in road construction areas. It’s a tragedy some of our Erie readers may have already heard about but hope they never experience in their lifetime.
The fatal truck accident happened along a westbound stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Valley Forge and Downingtown that had been closed for maintenance. The Turnpike Commission reports that a semi-truck headed westbound entered the section of closed roadway and struck the two commission employees. Injured in the collision was a maintenance foreman, who was taken to Paoli Hospital, and the truck driver. Sadly, the second employee was fatally injured in the crash.
Based on this information, some of our readers might be wondering why the accident happened in the first place. Was there proper signage that alerted motorists to the closure? Was this signage in a highly visible location? Was the truck driver impaired in any way? Could negligence have been a factor?
While answers to these questions could help facilitate a personal injury claim or a wrongful death lawsuit, reports do not indicate the factors at play in this crash. All we know is that police remained at the scene following the accident to do a follow-up investigation.
As some of you may already know, accidents such as this that involve work-related injuries are often covered by workers’ compensation and death benefits. This is most likely where the victims in this case will receive compensation from. It’s worth noting though that sometimes requesting compensation can be a difficult process and claims can even be turned down in some cases. Getting help from a skilled attorney in situations such as this is often advised.