Car accident kills 1 Florida garbage collector, injures another

One Florida garbage collector is dead after he and his co-worker were struck by a car while working on the side of a highway. This makes the victim the eleventh pedestrian killed in an accident this year in Brevard County.

The 55-year-old Cocoa man died at the scene. A firefighter who arrived at the scene explained that the man was pinned between the car and his garbage truck, requiring emergency response crews to perform a technique known as extrication to remove him. The other garbage collector, 43, survived the incident, but sustained serious injuries and was flown to a hospital for medical treatment. The 27-year-old woman who was driving the car was also severely injured in the crash. She was taken to a nearby medical center.

The accident occurred when the woman's car approached the men as they carried brush to their garbage truck for disposal. The driver apparently failed to notice the men or their flashing warning lights and did not move over into the other lane. She collided with the workers from behind and then crashed into the garbage truck.

Investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol have not yet determined why the driver did not attempt to avoid the garbage collectors. They have determined that alcohol was not involved in the accident. No word has surfaced on whether the driver is expected to face charges for her role in the crash.

A representative for the garbage collecting company that employed the two workers expressed her sympathy for the victim's family, explaining that all safety guidelines were being followed at the time of the accident.

This is yet another tragic example of the devastation that can be caused by negligent drivers. Hopefully this story will encourage Florida drivers to drive cautiously when people are working near a road. It could go a long way toward preventing wrongful deaths like the one in this story.

Source: Florida Today, "Car strikes garbage collectors, killing 1, seriously injuring another," Andrew Knapp, Sept. 16, 2011