Eaton County road worker killed in preventable crash on Lansing Road

An Eaton County Road Commission worker was killed Tuesday afternoon while directing traffic on Lansing Road in Benton Township, reigniting calls for improved safety in construction zones. The 24-year-old Charlotte man was struck by two vehicles near Nixon Road around 2:30 p.m., according to Michigan State Police.

Police Lt. Rene Gonzalez described the incident as a preventable crash, stating that a sanitation truck failed to stop in time and rear-ended a pickup truck that had stopped at the worker's direction. The impact pushed the pickup into parked road commission trucks, striking the worker who attempted to move out of the way. The pickup driver and passenger were hospitalized, while the sanitation truck occupants were uninjured.

The road commission noted that Tuesday was scheduled to be the employee's last day before he moved to northern Michigan. In response to the crash and a statewide trend of work zone fatalities, Michigan State Police have increased patrols around active construction sites to monitor for speeding and distracted driving.

Read the full story at WILX.