Jun 26, 2007 11:15 pm US/Eastern
Veteran Highway Worker Struck & Killed On Ramp
by Kathryn Brown
FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
There's renewed concern for the men and women who work along Maryland roads after two deaths just days apart.
Kathryn Brown has new details from investigators.
A tragic twist of the wheel took the life of a State Highway Administration worker early Tuesday morning. Richard Moser, 57, was part of a three-man crew cleaning up debris along an on-ramp to I-70 in Frederick County when the driver of a pickup truck crossed into the work zone. No one knows why.
"It is a very dangerous job because you're being protected by cones and barrels," said Dave Buck, State Highway Administration.
Moments after the accident, Moser's stricken co-workers consoled one another as reconstruction teams began to figure out what went so wrong. There were no skid marks.
Catherine Cline's husband was working on that crew.
"You can follow every single rule to the letter and the guys still get killed out here because traffic doesn't pay attention," she said.
This is the second job-related highway fatality here in Maryland in just the last week. Now both are sparking a closer look into making major policy changes statewide.
Howard County Corporal Scott Wheeler was mowed down while making a traffic stop last week. In the wake of this accident and countless others, "step out" patrols have been halted in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and by Maryland State Police.
"Our troopers will be stopping motorists with patrol cars and not flagging them down on foot," said Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police.
It's a temporary change as officers conduct a full-blown review of policy, one that may snowball into many more in the investigation of the latest tragedy on the roads.
"Police officers as well as State Highway Administration officers and other officers out here are aware that there is an inherent danger to working out here, but there is work that has to be done out here," said Maryland State Police Sgt. Betts.
The crew working Tuesday morning had two vehicles with signs marking road work. That's everything required under state law, but now some workers are calling for tighter restrictions in work zones.
Richard Moser was a 21-year veteran of the State Highway Administration.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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