"collision happened in a crosswalk to employee parking lot...."

Many companies put forth the message that the importance of safety does not end at the factory gate. We have walked through countless employee parking lots around the globe. We have observed many near misses in these parking lots. This story emphasizes the hidden hazard that is present in the parking lots surrounding our aluminium plants.

The (omitted) State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal accident after a man was struck and killed one morning during the week of January 5, 2020 outside the aluminium manufacturing plant where he worked.

The accident happened just after 7 a.m. along (omitted) at a crosswalk that connects the plant to an employee parking lot.

(TV news station) has learned that other crashes have been reported at the site in recent years.

State police said the victim, identified as a 60-year-old man, was an employee with company which is a construction company working at the plant.

(The deceased worker) was wearing a reflective vest when he exited his vehicle and approached the crosswalk. He activated the crosswalk lights and began to cross but was struck by a passing car.

The driver of that vehicle stopped and has cooperated with authorities.

This photo was taken from a news video showing the crosswalk where the incident occurred. 

Police said there was another pedestrian accident at the location in 2016 and there have been nine other accidents along the road in the last five years.

"We had some complaint of people kind of speeding, so we sent our cars and patrol officers there to run traffic,” said local Police Chief. “You get people doing—it’s 30 miles an hour there—doing 35, 36, 34, in that range, but we really didn't have a problem to speak of.”

A spokesperson for the company released a statement saying: "We are working with officials to gather more information. All of us at (company name omitted) extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the (construction company) employee."

The highway patrol’s crash team has been on the scene investigating but it may take a few weeks before a cause is determined.

The plant makes aluminium engine blocks for cars and has been in operation since the 1990’s.

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We pray for them. We also pray for the motorist who killed the worker as he was using the crosswalk. For the rest of their lives the motorist will know that their actions resulted in a death of a man. We would have to assume that the motorist was distracted while driving. The pedestrian was wearing a reflective vest, and had activated the crosswalk unfortunately that was not enough.

Sadly this is not the first incident at this crosswalk. It is to our knowledge the first fatality. We pray that the company just builds an pedestrian bridge or tunnel to eliminate the pedestrian motor vehicle interaction on this road.

It will provide little comfort to the deceased worker’s family. But, as we talk to thousands of workers around the globe annually. We will include this incident in our general presentation.

The APSB editors learn so much from every incident we post. This incident has motivated us to watch some educational videos on distracted driving. We were embarrassed to say that we could relate to each video and will make a concerted effort not to be distracted when driving. Here are some videos that we thought were enjoyable.

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