Road Work Construction Accidents

Drivers in Miami know that roads throughout the city are almost always under construction. While construction zones can be annoying for drivers, they can be incredibly dangerous for workers. Hazards like working at night, congested roadways, and intoxicated drivers can all lead to accidents which injure workers. If you or a loved one were injured while performing construction work, you may be able to file a lawsuit seeking damages for your injuries.

Road construction zones can be confusing and congested areas. Drivers must follow a maze of traffic cones, barriers, and highway signs. When drivers don’t adapt to changing traffic patterns, disasters can result. Drivers who are not paying attention may run into barriers, strike another vehicle, or might drive into the construction zone itself. Accidents like these may not only injure the drivers and passengers in the vehicles, but the wreck can also injure workers on the road.

In addition to the dangers added by outside drivers, roadwork construction zones are inherently dangerous on their own. Workers must deal with large construction equipment and vehicles, which can strike workers or drop debris. In addition, road work also requires workers to be near traffic, which can lead to workers accidentally stepping into the roadway into the path of an oncoming car. Finally, road work construction zones are often full of hidden hazards, like open utility access holes, uneven surfaces, elevated work areas, and poor lighting conditions. These hazards are especially dangerous when considering that road workers also must deal with speeding traffic and noisy equipment and machinery simultaneously.

Road worker injuries are a serious problem. Each year over 38,000 injuries are reported at road construction zones, which means that a worker is injured every 14 minutes. While overall injuries and fatalities are on the decline, the problem remains pervasive throughout Florida and the rest of the country.

When a road construction worker is injured on the job, negligence is often to blame. Often, it is negligence on the part of a passing driver. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that accidents with a vehicle account for more than 65% of road construction workers. The majority of those accidents involve a passing car striking a worker, but nearly a third are the fault of construction vehicles backing up and hitting someone.

Many people and entities have the responsibility of minimizing these risks and preventing accidents. For example, the Florida Department of Transportation helps construction crews with signage and local law enforcement officers to control traffic. The FDOT also creates public safety campaigns that increase awareness of safety in road work zones.

While state and local governments can help with road work safety, most of the burden of keeping workers safe often falls to the contractor in charge of the project. To help safeguard workers, contractors and site owners should make sure that employees are well trained in safety procedures and are protected by adequate traffic barriers. While the contractor and his or her employees must follow OSHA regulations and other state and local safety rules, these rules cannot prevent every accident.

If you or a loved one were injured on while working at a road construction site, you may have more options than workers’ compensation. When an accident or injury is caused by a third party (other than the worker or his or her employer), then that worker has the option of filing a third-party injury lawsuit. In road construction work, these lawsuits are most often filed against careless or negligent drivers who injure a worker. However, they can also be filed against other parties who may be responsible for a worksite accident, like against the manufacturer of a defective tool or piece of machinery.

After a road construction injury, it is important to speak with an experienced Miami personal injury attorney about your options. At Gerson & Schwartz, P.A., our attorneys have decades of experience fighting for injury people. Our lawyers will review your case at no cost to you and will help you choose your best legal option. Injured workers may be able to recovery additional financial help beyond what is offered by the workers’ compensation system, including damages for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and more.

To find out more about how Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. can help, contact our office today and schedule an appointment by calling (877) 475-2905.