Dangers of Distraction: Nearly 500 Road Workers and First Responders Hit and Killed By Cars Since 2020

From 2020 to February 2024, 487 workers died while on the job due to vehicle strikes. From 2020 to 2023, an average of 122 workers were killed each year due to being hit by a car. The number of workers hit by vehicles in the last four years peaked in 2021, with 150 lives senselessly lost.

Work zones are dangerous for drivers and workers. Fatal car crashes occurring near road construction zones sharply spiked by 63 percent from 2010 to 2021.¹ Although the number of workers killed by vehicle strikes decreased from 2022 to 2023, the overall percentage stayed mostly consistent year over year, at about eight percent of all workplace fatalities tracked by OSHA.

Source: Fatality Inspection Data – Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Distracted driving contributes to preventable loss of life in several occupations. Workers fatally injured by vehicular strikes engage in various activities shortly before their untimely deaths, including:

• Making traffic stops
• Performing road construction or maintenance
• Loading vehicles onto tow trucks
• Directing traffic

Survey results from the 2022 Work Zone Awareness Survey performed by the Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS)  and Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America demonstrate the real-life working conditions experienced by those on the front lines. Indeed, 64 percent of contractors reported one or more crashes in a work zone from 2021 to 2022. Fifty-eight percent of workers agreed that the risk of highway work zone crashes was greater in 2022 than the previous year.²

Why do you think highway work zone construction is more dangerous today than one year ago?

Source: 2022 Work Zone Awareness Survey, Heavy Construction Systems Specialists and Associated General Contractors

When asked about the potential reasons for the increase in danger, most workers blamed phone use, followed by speeding.

Wherein lies the solution? Many workers in the 2022 Work Zone Awareness Survey agreed that greater police presence, stricter enforcement of laws, closing roads, and detouring traffic near work sites would help increase safety. Of course, a majority of workers in the study called for the creation of stricter laws against distracted driving, including cell phone use.

First Responders Are Vulnerable to Being Hit by Cars

Over half of workers killed by car strikes in 2023 were first responders, including police officers, firefighters, and tow truck drivers.

Cases of first responders falling victim to car crashes in the line of duty plague the news nationwide. Heartbreaking stories put faces and names to tow truck drivers in West Virginia, Texas, and Indiana killed while assisting drivers with broken-down vehicles.³⁴⁵⁶ A flagger fatally injured in North Carolina, a deputy deploying spike strips, and an EMT helping victims at a crash scene join the list of those deceased after losing their lives on the front lines.⁷⁸⁹ The Trooper Taylor Thyfault highway in Colorado memorializes the location where a young police officer who, after warning a local truck driver to stay clear of the road, succumbed to the very danger he spoke of in a cruel twist of fate.¹⁰

Top 5 situations where first responders were hit and killed by vehicles (2020-present)

1. Responding to a disabled vehicle
2. Responding to a crash scene
3. Directing traffic
4. Making a traffic stop
5. Vehicular assault

Vehicle strikes rank among the top causes of death among maintenance workers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), law enforcement officers, and recovery specialists, per the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).¹¹ Vehicular assault cases, defined as using a vehicle to threaten or cause harm to another person,¹² also ranked in the top five situations involving first responders and vehicle strikes. While state laws surrounding vehicular assault vary, punishment ranges from jail time and fines to vehicular homicide felony charges.

All 50 states have enacted “Move Over” laws, which dictate how drivers must act when approaching an emergency vehicle.¹³ Namely, drivers should “move over” a lane if and when it’s safe or slow down as they pass. South Carolina enacted the first “Move Over” law in 1996, and Hawaii was the last state to adopt a similar law in 2012.¹⁴

Oregon sustained the highest population-adjusted rate of worker deaths resulting from a vehicle strike from 2020 to 2023: 0.4 deaths per 100,000 residents. In that same period, Texas had the highest number of workers who were hit and killed by vehicles. 44 percent of the 50 workers killed by vehicles in Texas were first responders, and 16 percent were law enforcement officers. When comparing raw numbers, individual states with the most deaths from a vehicle strike tended to be among the largest states. Vermont had no workers killed by vehicle strikes between 2020 and 2023.

Missouri and Montana are the only states without total bans on texting and driving, which could put roadway workers at undue risk. Montana has no texting and driving ban in place, while Missouri only bans drivers 21 and younger from sending messages behind the wheel.¹⁵ However, Missouri’s House Bill 499 (also called Lyndon’s Law) grants the state’s Department of Revenue the ability to revoke a driver’s license if the driver strikes an emergency responder, highway worker, or utility worker.¹⁶ Between 2020 and 2023, eight workers in Missouri were killed due to vehicle strikes.

A national poll sponsored by the National Safety Commission found that 71 percent of Americans were unfamiliar with “Move Over” laws.¹⁷ Yet 90 percent recognize the dangers first responders and law enforcement officers face in conducting traffic stops and assisting with roadside emergencies. If you don’t already know your state’s “Move Over” laws, take a moment to review what to do in these critical situations—after all, it could make a crucial difference in someone’s life.

Every driver has a role to play in ensuring pedestrians and workers in the roadway are always safe. Here are a few things drivers can do today to save lives:

1. Stay alert and vigilant: Pay close attention to road signs, cones, and any indicators of construction zones or maintenance work ahead. Be particularly cautious in areas where road work is known to occur.
2. Reduce speed: Slow down when approaching construction zones or areas where workers are present. Reduced speed gives you more time to react to unexpected situations and provides workers a safer environment.
3. Follow traffic signs and signals: Obey all traffic signs and signals, especially those that indicate speed limits and warnings about construction or maintenance work. These signs are designed to alert drivers to potential hazards and guide them safely through the area.
4. Avoid distractions: Keep your focus on the road and avoid distractions such as using mobile phones, eating, or adjusting the radio. Distractions can significantly impair your ability to react quickly to changes in road conditions, including the presence of workers.
5. Give workers ample space: When passing through a construction zone or past emergency responders, give them plenty of space. Stay within designated lanes and avoid unnecessary lane changes. Also, be mindful of any instructions given by flaggers or other workers directing traffic.

Our analysis included Fatality Inspection Data collected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA data includes work-related fatalities that occurred under Federal OSHA and State Plan jurisdiction for cases that have been closed. The data does not include workers who died due to Covid-19. Our analysis included fatalities that occurred between January 2020 and February 2024. OSHA does not track fatalities that occur on the job in certain fields or locations, such as law enforcement, so we combined this data with records from ResponderSafety.com.

We included fatalities from 2020 to February 2024 in our analysis. This group tracks the number of first responders killed by vehicle strikes while performing their work duties, including firefighters, EMS, police, tow operators, and other emergency workers. We compared the data sets and removed duplicate records between the OSHA and ResponderSafety.com reports. The analysis does not include workers who were struck by vehicles that fell from auto repair lifts or workers killed while operating or riding in cars that were involved in crashes.