A 57-year-old safety truck driver from New Orleans was killed on Nov. 3 in Mandeville. His truck plunged off the side of the southbound span of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge. His truck was on the bridge to protect a roadwork convoy from accidents. It is specially designed to withstand impacts.
In this case, however, a garbage truck hit the safety truck, pushing it off the bridge and into the lake below. The convoy was indicated by numerous notices on Causeway message boards, as well as by police lights. The garbage truck driver alleges that a spray can rolling beneath his brake pedal was the cause of his failure to stop. According to accident investigators, speed was not believed to be involved. The garbage truck also ran into a Causeway police cruiser. The driver could be facing charges.
The safety truck driver’s co-workers jumped into the lake to assist the victim. However, he did not surface, according to the general manager of the bridge. Divers recovered his body from the water shortly after 5 p.m.
The 24-mile-long Causeway has been a cause of concern for Causeway officials. The southbound span is 60 years old and has been the site of 13 overboard accidents in just the past 20 years. Ten of them were fatal. Higher tolls are one possible solution being considered to help fund additional safety devices.
When an individual is on the job and suddenly becomes a fatal accident victim, his or her family could be suffering emotionally as well as financially. Final expenses and possibly the loss of the family’s support could be causing them a great deal of stress. A personal injury attorney could help them to be aware of their rights and how to proceed with a wrongful death suit to pursue compensation to help with those expenses.
Source: Daily Journal , “Bridge officials: Garbage truck driver blamed fatal crash on rolling aerosol can”, November 05, 2014
