A driver is dead after slamming into four construction workers, injuring two, in a construction zone on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bucks County early Saturday morning.
Trooper Kevin Rathman said the construction workers were apparently using a vehicle to pick up cones to reopen a closed lane on the Route 276 east near milepost 355.1 in Bensalem around 5:30 a.m. when they were struck by a Nissan.
"This is a horrific trend and it needs to stop now," said Turnpike Chairman Sean Logan Saturday in a news release.
The driver of the car was pronounced dead shortly after the accident around 6 a.m.
One of the workers was flown to a Temple University Hospital with a pelvis injury. The second was transported by ambulance to Aria Torresdale. The injured men worked for PNF Mark III, of Newtown, and Bensalem-based Meco Constructors Inc. -- contractors hired by the PA Turnpike, according to Logan. Two other workers in the Nissan were not hurt in the accident, police said.
"Too many construction workers were sent to the hospital this week, and too many lives shattered," Logan continued.
On Monday, a driver -- trying to avoid a trooper conducting a traffic stop -- swerved into a closed lane, striking a construction worker in a work zone near milepost 154 in Bedford County, which is located southeast of Johnstown, Pa.
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The Bensalem accident remains under investigation.
"Though the cause of this morning's disaster, hasn't yet been confirmed, experience tells us that speed and distraction are likely to blame," Logan said.
There were 150 crashes in work zones along the Turnpike last year, he continued.
"It sickens me that the people who are working to improve the Turnpike have become vulnerable targets because some motorists simply aren't getting the message: Speeding in our work zones will not be tolerated."
Traffic was being directed off the road at the Bensalem interchange for a portion of Saturday afternoon. The road was reopened nearly six hours later.
