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Dashcam video shows electrical worker hit by 18-wheeler; LaDOTD, Denham Springs Police investigating
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DENHAM SPRINGS - Dashcam video from a driver in Livingston Parish showed the moment an electrical worker was hit by the top of an 18-wheeler passing under the traffic signal.
The video posted by Bill Atkinson on Facebook showed the employee, who was working on the traffic signal in a lift truck, getting hit by the top of the 18-wheeler as it passed in the right lane. The truck was making a wide turn onto Range Avenue at I-12 in Denham Springs when the top of it bumped the bucket, flipping the worker inside.
"I don't know how that truck could have made that turn without hitting one pole on one side without hitting the truck," East Baton Rouge Parish Director of Transportation Fred Raiford said.
The Denham Springs Police Department said the worker suffered only minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital because they had a harness on. Denham Springs Police are investigating whether or not charges will be filed.
The incident is still under investigation by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development because the light where the crash happened is operated by the state.
"That is a mandate we have when you're in that bucket truck you'll have that harness on," Raiford said.
In Baton Rouge, Raiford says that his department does what they can to make sure drivers notice the workers so this does not happen.
"Anytime there's people working in the roadways, there's signage that's required or there's barricades saying this part of the lane will be closed," he said, adding that cones, signs and lane closures are sometimes required but sometimes not. "Safety is always the number one priority for us."
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