Drunk drivers seriously injures construction worker

There are reasons why most Denver employees’ parents once told them not to play in the street: the more time in the street, the higher a chance of a serious accident. Some jobs in Colorado, however, require that the employees are in the street. Street construction can be a dangerous job, especially when the city or state hasn’t shut down the street that is being repaired. Even when this is the case, however, construction workers should be protected from cars, trucks and other motor vehicles as they do their jobs.

If they are not, they should be able to receive workers’ compensation awards following a serious accident. Sometimes, employers just don’t do enough to protect their employees from serious injury.

Sometimes, however, it is neither the employee nor the employer’s fault in an accident. In this story, a 25-year-old suspected drunk driver seriously injured a construction worker when he started driving in a restricted area. The lane had been closed for construction when the driver entered. Unfortunately, he then hit a construction worker before fleeing. Luckily, several witnesses followed him and detained him so he wouldn’t injure anyone else.

The construction worker was rushed to the hospital and was admitted in serious condition. It is not entirely known what the extent of his injuries is, nor whether he will be able to sufficiently recover to work again as a construction worker. As he recovers, however, he should be able to use workers’ compensation to cover many of his costs, including his medical bills.

Knowing what to do following a serious construction accident is difficult, even when an employee is not distracted by medical care, pain or illness. Using a workers’ compensation attorney can help anyone injured in a construction-site accident correctly and completely fill out a request for workers’ compensation.

Source: Daily Herald, “Cops: Bensenville man hit construction worker,” Josh Stockinger, Oct. 16, 2012

Learn more about construction-site accidents by visiting our workers’ comp for construction workers page.

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