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May 15, 2008 6:14 pm US/Central
Construction Flagman Struck, Killed By SUV
CHASKA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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The accident happened at Highway 212 and County Road 147, according to the State Patrol's Web site.
CBS
U.S. 212 was closed in both directions west of Chaska, Minn. this morning after a motorist struck and killed a road construction flagman.
It happened just before 7 a.m. Thursday.
The Minnesota State Patrol said a 73-year-old Chaska man was driving a maroon Ford Excursion west on Highway 212 when he hit a flagman who was holding a stop sign.
The flagman, a 47-year-old Stewartville, Minn., man, died at the scene. The worker was the foreman for the Zumbro River Contractors group which is working on the three-year reconstruction project on Hwy. 212.
The speed limit in the area was recently lowered to 45 miles per hour because of safety concerns.
At the time of the crash, the worker was stopping traffic to allow heavy equipment to be moved across the road. This is the first accident in the construction zone for the entire project.
The patrol is investigating, with help from the Carver County sheriff's office and Chaska police.
It may take investigators weeks to conclude what factors led to the accident and if there will be charges against the driver.
Ironically, this construction project won a prestigious safety award last fall for identifying workplace hazards. Because the project won the award, it was exempted for a year from OSHA inspections, according to a state Web site.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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