Milwaukee, WI — A worker inside a hydraulic lift was injured this past Thursday morning (October 8, 2015) after a semi-truck crashed into it on Milwaukee’s south side. Police haven’t identified the worker, but said that he was sent to a hospital for injuries to his chest, ribs, and legs.
The news said that the worker was doing some work at the Howard Lane overpass, using the hydraulic lift to help.
Also, this was around 2:00 a.m. in the morning.
A semi-truck hauling bottled water came along, however, and swerved out of its lane and onto the shoulder, where it crashed into the hydraulic lift. The worker inside was thrown from the lift and injured, then the semi-truck ran off the road completely and crashed. The load of bottled water spilled, police said, and a cleanup crew was dispatched.
The name of the worker and his company haven’t been released yet, but it was confirmed that he was doing bridgework at the time. The trucker wasn’t identified either.
This all happened in the northbound lanes of traffic.
Map of the Approximate Area on I-43
Commentary:
I’m glad that these injuries don’t appear to be too serious, but I think this trucker ought to be held answerable for what happened here. Unless there are some major details I’m missing, I just don’t see how this trucker could’ve missed a giant hydraulic lift on the side of the road like that — so what was the problem? Was he distracted behind the wheel? Did drowsiness or fatigue play a role here?
Road construction workers already have enough to worry about with heavy machinery and the inherent dangers of the job, they shouldn’t have to worry about giant semi-truck losing control and swerving off the road. If I were the trucking company that had hired that driver, I would be falling all over myself to make things right with the victim.
— Grossman Law Offices