ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A construction worker was struck by a vehicle as he picked up cones on State Road 417 early Friday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
- Construction worker struck on State Road 417
- Worker was thrown over guardrail, down embankment
- Driver ticketed for failure to maintain lane
Troopers said that at about 6:30 a.m., workers were picking up the cones in the southbound lanes of State Road 417, near Lee Vista Boulevard, when a four-door Saturn driven by 28-year-old Joshua Mann switched lanes.
Mann veered toward the crews, failed to stop for traffic slowing ahead and struck construction worker Shawn Grant, troopers said.
"Thankfully, the construction worker saw him coming, started running toward the guardrail to get out of the way, (and) just didn't have enough time to do it," Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Kim Montes said.
Grant, 42, of Orlando, was thrown over the guardrail and down an embankment.
"That's somebody's father, that's somebody's brother. That's somebody's uncle, and they're just trying to do their job," Montes said.
Those who work in construction, like John Shiver, know the risks of being on the road.
"Your life flashes before your face plenty of times," said Shiver, the Orlando branch manager of National Trench Safety.
Shiver deals with safety all day. His company provides signage and equipment to large construction projects across Central Florida.
But, despite his 20 years in the business, there are still moments that shake him.
"I've seen guys hit. When you see it happen, you just want to take a couple of days off. You don't want to go back," he said. "It can get kind of scary, even when we're having meetings and not actually in the roads."
According to FHP, the driver in Friday morning's incident not only stayed on scene but jumped into action.
"(Mann) actually was one of the first ones out of the car and down the embankment to give first aid to the pedestrian until fire rescue got there," Montes said.
Grant was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with serious injuries, troopers said.
Shiver said that crews want drivers to focus solely on driving and limit distractions when behind the wheel.
"We've had some of our customers' message signs just get run over, not even be in the road, just people on a cell phone, veer over," he said. "Everybody has a family, somebody has a family member they want to see come home at the end of the day."
Mann, of Orlando, was ticketed for failure to maintain a single lane. He was not hurt, troopers said.
FHP said that offense carries four points on one's license and a mandatory court appearance.
The crash was a reminder, Montes said, to slow down and stay alert near work zones so incidents like this don't happen in the future.