How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 32 severe cases involving roadway collisions with objects over the last decade. Fractures are the most common injury type, accounting for 32 percent of all reported incidents.
These collisions frequently cause severe damage to internal organs. The frequency of pelvic and intracranial injuries highlights the extreme physical force involved when your vehicle strikes fixed structures.
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These injuries typically occur when you are operating or riding on trucks that strike roadside infrastructure like bollards, trees, or tunnel structures. Many incidents involve you being on the rear steps of garbage trucks and getting pinned or crushed during a collision. Data shows that trucks are the primary source of these accidents, often occurring when you are backing up or maneuvering in tight spaces.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fractures | 9 |
| 2 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 4 |
| 3 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 3 |
| 4 | Intracranial Injuries | 2 |
| 5 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 2 |
| 6 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 2 |
| 7 | Effects of electric current | 2 |
| 8 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Administrative services account for 34 percent of these incidents, largely due to the prevalence of waste management and collection operations. If you work in transportation or construction, you also face elevated risks, as these roles require frequent operation of heavy vehicles in proximity to fixed obstacles and narrow work zones.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports include you being pinned between moving trucks and stationary objects or suffering severe trauma when a vehicle bed or equipment strikes an overhead structure. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if safety protocols were ignored.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | PA | Education | "An employee was driving a vehicle through a tunnel on a campus road to the dumpsters. The bed was elevated and contacted the tunnel structure. The employee sustained a lacerated pancreas and a dislocated shoulder. " | |
| 2024 | NY | Administrative Services | "An employee was standing on the back step of a residential garbage truck when the truck slid on ice and the employee was pinned between the truck and a telephone pole. The employee sustained a crushed pelvis." | |
| 2024 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was getting onto the rear of a garbage truck. The employee's right leg was caught between the truck's rear riding step and a bollard as it started moving. The employee was hospitalized and their leg was amputated at the knee." | |
| 2024 | MO | Agriculture | "An employee was backing up a bobtail propane truck when it struck stored propane tanks, resulting in a fire. The employee suffered burns to the back, head, and left arm." | |
| 2023 | NJ | Administrative Services | "An employee was riding the rear step of a garbage truck while the truck was traveling to the next house along the collection route. The vehicle struck against a roadside tree. The employee sustained multiple fractures." | |
| 2023 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was riding on the back of a trash truck when they were pinched between the truck and a utility pole. The employee sustained a fractured right hip." | |
| 2023 | GA | Manufacturing | "An employee was moving a manlift away from a truck when it struck a power line. The employee sustained electric shock." | |
| 2023 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was riding on the back of a garbage truck when a low tree limb approximately 10.5 feet off the ground and 12-18 inches in diameter hit the top of the truck. The tree limb broke off the tree and struck the employee's leg, resulting in a broken leg." | |
| 2023 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee was driving a concrete pump truck when it made contact with overhead power lines. The employee was shocked and was hospitalized." | |
| 2021 | NH | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was driving a vehicle down a dirt road when a windstorm caused tree branches to come down all over the road. A branch struck a mirror bracket and glass broke. A piece of glass got into the employee's eye and lacerated the retina." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.