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It’s a lucky day for a road worker on I-81 in New York. The guy was standing on the highway shoulder behind a service vehicle, notifying motorists to move over. Suddenly, a large Penske truck barreled toward him. The force of its impact blew off his hard hat and pushed the service vehicle into the ditch. Watch below.

New York DOT road worker barely escapes serious car accident on I-81

After waving his sign and realizing the Penske truck wasn’t going to stop, the road worker turns away and quickly moves to the right. Incredibly, he barely escapes his sandwiched position between a total of three commercial vehicles. He’s extremely fortunate to have survived, and it’s even more incredible to walk away without injury. None of the DOT employees on site were hurt.

The New York State Department of Transportation responded to the incident, saying the event is a “frightening reminder” of the hazards their roadworkers face.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that from 2003 to 2020, 2,222 workers lost their lives at road construction sites. This is an average of 123 per year.

New York is a “Move Over” state. This means that when motorists share the highway with a road worker, construction crews, or emergency responders, they must slow down and move over a lane. In this case, the Penske truck driver should have noticed the road crew, slowed, and switched to at least the center lane.

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Sarah Kennedy

Sarah Kennedy is the Editor-in-Chief of MotorBiscuit. She joined the team as Managing Editor in 2021 and has more than 20 years of automotive and operations expertise. She held ASE certifications as an Automotive Service Consultant and Parts Specialist and was a licensed car salesperson for many years. Sarah often focuses on helping drivers navigate used car buying and vehicle ownership. She created “Shop Smarts,” a column for MOTOR Magazine, and was a contributor there for eight years. Her work earned her a Gold Medalist award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors in 2014 and Bronze Medalist awards from the International Automotive Media Competition in 2014 and 2015. She attended the Automotive Management Institute and earned her bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University.

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