How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 79 severe cases involving roadway vehicle collisions over the last decade. Fractures are the most common injury, accounting for 38% of these reports, which often lead to extensive medical treatment and long-term disability.
These incidents are uniquely dangerous because they involve high-force impacts from heavy machinery like trucks. You frequently suffer from severe intracranial injuries, requiring complex surgical intervention and lengthy recovery periods.
Common injuries
Roadway collisions at work often occur when safety protocols for traffic control fail. Trucks are the primary source of these incidents, involved in 41% of reported cases. Hazards arise when you are positioned in active traffic lanes without adequate barriers, or when vehicle operators fail to account for you performing maintenance on signs, barrels, or road surfaces.
| 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 roadway collision reports. This elevated risk stems from the necessity of working in close proximity to moving traffic while managing heavy equipment, often under tight deadlines that can compromise established traffic control zones.
Real cases like yours
Reports consistently show that you are most vulnerable when performing traffic control duties or maintenance from the back of a truck. Whether it is a vehicle entering a closed lane or a collision involving a bucket truck, these incidents often stem from a failure to maintain a safe work zone. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| 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
You most frequently suffer from fractures and intracranial injuries. An attorney can help you document the full extent of these injuries to ensure your claim reflects your medical needs.
Yes, if you were injured while performing work-related duties, you are generally entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits regardless of who was at fault for the crash. This coverage is designed to pay for your medical bills and a portion of your lost wages. An attorney can help you verify that your benefits are being calculated correctly.
Even if a third party caused the collision, your employer may still be liable if they failed to provide a safe work environment or proper traffic control measures. You might have grounds for both a Workers' Compensation claim and a personal injury claim against the driver. An attorney can help you evaluate whether your employer met their safety obligations.
OSHA requires employers to implement strict traffic control plans, including the use of barriers, signage, and high-visibility gear to protect you from moving vehicles. When these protocols are ignored or poorly executed, the risk of a severe collision increases significantly. An attorney can help you investigate whether your employer violated these safety standards.