Here is the question.?ÿ
You have a crew working on the interstate. No truck visible, no signage, no flashing lights. A crew member crosses the road and traffic slows to a crawl. In the line of traffic a crash happens. Are you as their employer liable for any damages? ?ÿ
This happened to my wife today. She was rear ended as the 3rd car back from the crew chief crossing the road. Obviously the driver that rear ended her is ultimately responsible. However, I feel that it is neglengent to have a crew out on an interstate with no traffic control of any sort.?ÿ
Those chain reactions are terrible.?ÿ A young mother who happened to be a classmate of my oldest daughter has never recovered from the incident almost eight years ago.?ÿ She was employed as Principal at our elementary school.?ÿ Her youngest child has Down Syndrome so participates in the Special Olympics.?ÿ She was driving a district-owned vehicle escorting her son's teacher and her son to the district competition.?ÿ A cement truck had to make a split second decision to run a yellow light or hit the brakes.?ÿ It hit the brakes, the car behind it hit the brakes, my friend hit the brakes but the semi behind her did not.?ÿ The vehicle was totaled.?ÿ The teacher was hospitalized and released after a few days wearing a neck brace.?ÿ The young boy spent a week or two in the hospital but recovered completely in due time.?ÿ The driver was not so lucky.?ÿ She is alive but can do almost nothing for herself.?ÿ Communicating with her is very difficult.?ÿ She has rapidly changing emotions and can become harmful to others and herself in a split second.?ÿ The district's insurance rates took a major hit.?ÿ There is not enough compensation in the world to make up for what she and her family have lost.
That is terrible. ???¦?ÿ
?ÿ
My wife and daughter were lucky. My daughter had no injuries. My wife has some bruising and is very sore.?ÿ
She managed to miss hitting the car in front of her. So the only ones in the accident were my wife and the suv that hit her. ?ÿ
On a side note the driver of the SUV jumped out of the car and took off running with a backpack. When the cops caught up with him, he did not have the backpack anymore.?ÿ
For what it's worth, when I did any surveying on a major highway in Florida I would hire an off-duty officer to park on the shoulder with lights flashing and maybe protect us somewhat. Did absolutely no good - traffic didn't slow in the slightest, just roared past. I concluded the only benefit would be in him quickly calling for an ambulance if anyone got hurt.?ÿ
?ÿ
When the cops caught up with him, he did not have the backpack anymore.?ÿ
Did the cops find it?
I'm guessing, probably.?ÿ But I don't see how a surveyor crossing the street should be any more liable than a random pedestrian crossing it.?ÿ Unless he jumped out into oncoming traffic, it's on the drivers.
That said, I always cone everything, wear a vest, and try not to do anything too crazy.
Just re-read, and you said, interstate.?ÿ That's a whole different story.?ÿ I'm amazed that they weren't stopped almost immediately by the state police, highway dept, dpw, etc.
?ÿ
I don??t know if they found it or not. They never said. My wife looked the guy up and he had some recent drug charges back in December. I am guessing that is why he took off.?ÿ
That is the one of the things I worry about the most. Someone looking at me on the side of the road with that camera thing and magic pole, having a wreck, and blaming me. Not someone finding one of my 20-year old surveys, misreading it and building a fence on the wrong side; OR worse yet, using it correctly and robbing me of the $200 I would make resurveying it.
Anything other than a residential street & I try to place signs and I always have a truck that is lit up like a christmas tree.?ÿ While this does not seem to slow the passing traffic, at least I'm covered when OSHA shows up.
@jph?ÿ ?ÿI have become if-fy on wearing a vest in residential or local arterial areas. We had a MAJOR storm event and now EVERYONE wears chartreuse. Now, wearing nice clothes one the side of the road gets more notice than the hundreds of bright things drivers see now.?ÿ Lots of cones, YES, and a lightweight barricade or two.
@bruce-small?ÿ ?ÿCones on the centerline often works well to slow traffic; causes drivers to point at their roof with their middle finger also.
I'm still an orange vest guy.?ÿ But I'm mainly in the woods and back-roads, so it's good for hunting season too.
I'm not a fan of the yellow vests.?ÿ I see orange great, but yellow just fades in the background for me.?ÿ I even have a tough time seeing the tripod legs in the woods too, unless there's an orange target on it.
In my experience cones do nothing - signs are not much better. We had an incident where a driver slowed down and yelled at the crew (who were on the shoulder) "You guys need to put up some signs!" He had passed our sign about 5 seconds prior... That being said, I would NEVER allow my folks on an Interstate Freeway without a full complement of cones/signs - I respect my employees more than that.
Anyone can be sued for damages. An insurance company would likely attempt to settle out of court to avoid a jury trial. You could find yourself uninsurable after something like that.
@john-putnam?ÿ ?ÿYes, trucks work good. You hit my truck, I am still working tomorrow. You hit me or my robot, we are not working tomorrow.
@oldpacer In August I bought new bright orange traffic cones to replace the dull old ones. Every cone now has tire marks. It didn't take long for speeding drivers not paying any attention to get them. It is scary out there.
?ÿ
