How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 79 severe cases involving roadway collisions over the past decade. Fractures are the most common injury type, accounting for 38% of these incidents and often requiring extensive medical intervention and long-term recovery.
These collisions frequently result in severe trauma. The high-impact nature of these events often leads to life-altering injuries that demand significant compensation for medical bills and lost wages.
Common injuries
Roadway collisions at work often stem from poor traffic control, blind spots, or vehicles entering restricted work zones. Trucks are the primary source of these incidents, appearing in 41% of reported cases. Whether you are working in a bucket truck or standing near a traffic barrier, the failure to maintain a safe separation between heavy equipment and you is a frequent cause of these severe accidents.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fractures | 26 |
| 2 | Intracranial Injuries | 9 |
| 3 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 8 |
| 4 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 8 |
| 5 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 3 |
| 6 | Injuries to the brain, spinal cord and other injuries | 3 |
| 7 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 3 |
| 8 | Multiple traumatic injuries and disorders— unspecified | 2 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction leads all sectors with 34% of reported roadway collision cases. The high volume of heavy machinery, constant movement of materials, and the necessity of working near active traffic lanes create a setting where even minor lapses in safety protocols can lead to catastrophic vehicle impacts.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents involve you being struck while performing traffic control, maintenance on overhead signs, or working near heavy dump trucks. Many reports highlight situations where vehicles entered closed lanes or failed to account for you when you were positioned on lift gates and in buckets. 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 employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | PA | Administrative Services | "An employee was in their personal vehicle awaiting instructions from the construction contractor on posting traffic cones. The driver of a motor vehicle swerved to avoid a steel plate in the roadway and struck the employee's car. The employee was hospitalized with four fractured ribs." | |
| 2025 | FL | Utilities | "An employee was working on a signal device while inside the bucket of a bucket truck. A tree service truck with a folded boom arm attached to the top collided with the bottom of the bucket the employee was occupying. This caused the employee to fall from the bucket and strike the pavement below. The employee was hospitalized with multiple injuries." | |
| 2024 | NY | Construction | "An employee was filling gaps in new asphalt on a bridge when a vehicle entered the closed lane and struck the rear passenger side of the dump truck that the employee was standing on. This caused the employee to be splashed with hot AC-20 asphalt, resulting in burns to his hands, face, and right eye. He also fell approximately 4 feet from the back of the truck to the ground." | |
| 2024 | CO | Construction | "An employee was inside a truck bucket, positioning it to perform maintenance on an overhead sign. A semi-truck in an active lane near the work zone struck the bucket the employee was in, causing the bucket to break and the employee to be ejected. His fall protection harness caught him before he hit the ground. He sustained a fractured left tibia." | |
| 2024 | ME | Construction | "An employee was putting out road barrels for traffic control and standing on the lift gate of a traffic truck with a driver in the driver's seat. The truck was struck from behind by a tractor trailer and the employee was thrown to the ground. The driver of the truck sustained injuries and was not hospitalized. The employee was hospitalized with a laceration to the head and a concussion, as well as a fractured femur that required surgery." | |
| 2024 | NJ | Construction | "An employee was picking up cones from the rear basket of a cone truck when an impact attenuator truck collided with the cone truck and caused the basket to bend inward. The employee was crushed and sustained a fractured pelvis." | |
| 2024 | ME | Construction | "An employee was operating a street sweeper following the paving crew in an active work zone. The street sweeper was struck from behind by an empty logging truck and the employee was thrown from the sweeper into the wood line. The employee was hospitalized for a skull fracture, two small brain bleeds, a laceration requiring 18 staples, an open fracture of his clavicle, a dislocated shoulder, and multiple scrapes and bruises. " | |
| 2024 | MO | Construction | "An employee was operating a skid steer in a work zone to unload gravel from a dump truck. The dump truck's brakes failed and the truck struck the skid steer. The skid steer operator sustained broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and a concussion. " | |
| 2024 | TX | Information | "An employee was parked along the side of a road working on a fiber outage. An automobile driven by an intoxicated person crossed over into the designated work zone and struck the employee's truck. The employee sustained injuries to his chest, lungs, shoulder, and head." | |
| 2023 | CO | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was sitting on the bed of the work truck while picking up safety cones in a work zone. An SUV drove into the work zone and struck the work truck. The SUV then hit the employee's legs, knocking her to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a leg injury." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
Fractures are the most frequent injury reported, followed by intracranial injuries. These injuries often require surgery and prolonged physical therapy, which can be costly. An attorney can help you document these medical needs to ensure your claim covers the full extent of your recovery.
Yes, if you were performing work-related duties at the time of the collision, you are generally entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits. This applies even if the accident occurred on a public roadway, provided you were acting within the scope of your employment. An attorney can help you verify that your claim is filed correctly to maximize your benefits.
Your employer may still be liable if they failed to provide a safe work zone or adequate traffic control measures. Even if a third party caused the crash, you may have a valid Workers' Compensation claim against your employer alongside a potential personal injury claim against the driver. An attorney can help you navigate these overlapping legal paths.
Employers are required to implement rigorous traffic control plans, use proper signage, and ensure you are visible and protected by barriers. When these standards are ignored, the risk of a severe collision increases significantly. An attorney can help you investigate whether your employer violated these safety requirements and how that impacts your case.