Around 9:30 in the morning on Wednesday, May 19, 27-year-old construction worker Dustin Jenkins was seriously injured and later succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital after he was struck by a DeKalb County dump truck at an active road construction site near the intersection of Tallassee Road and Westchester Drive in Athens, Georgia.
Athens-Clarke County police officers who responded to the scene found Jenkins after he had been hit by the truck while he was painting the road. Police spokesperson Geof Gilland told reporters that Jenkins’ back had been turned to the truck as it was reversed down the road by its 50-year-old operator after the operator had emptied the truck’s load. No charges have yet been filed against the truck driver, whose name is currently withheld, but the incident is under active investigation by the police and The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
According to the police, this was the 12th fatal roadway accident in Athens-Clarke County this year.
The incident also happened just one month after National Work Zone Awareness Week, which is held annually to bring attention to motorist and construction worker safety in road work zones. According to the Federal Highway Administration’s latest data, fatal crashes in work zones have been on the rise, with an 11 percent increase between 2018 and 2019. Comparatively, during that same period fatal crashes outside work zones decreased by 2 percent. Despite improvements in awareness and work zone traffic control measures, work zones continue to be hot spots for crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
If you have been injured in a construction-related accident or an accident involving a construction work zone, contact an experienced injury attorney from Cambre & Associates to learn how you can obtain compensation for the financial and quality-of-life impacts you have experienced due to your injury.
