Three construction workers were killed Sept. 25 when a tractor-trailer struck a parked attenuator construction vehicle before continuing into other vehicles in a work zone on Interstate 10 near Blythe, Calif., about 115 miles east of Palm Springs, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash happened around 5:17 a.m. on eastbound I-10 near Intake Boulevard. California Highway Patrol. says the tractor-trailer was traveling east at an undetermined speed when it struck the attenuator and an unoccupied Chevrolet Silverado before colliding with a water truck. All three workers were hit during the sequence and suffered fatal injuries.
The Riverside County Coroner’s Office identified the workers as Christopher Benavidez Guatemala, 27, of Coachella, Calif.; Alfonso Vega Torres, 50, also of Coachella; and Francisco Morales Mendoza, 39, of Tonopah, Ariz.
The collision occurred along a California Department of Transportation I-10 rehabilitation project that ran from west of Wiley Well Road to the California-Arizona state line. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., doing business as Southwest Asphalt Paving, is the prime contractor on the $232.23 million job. Agency data indicates the project is 88% complete, with an estimated completion date of December 4.
It has not been established whether the workers killed in the accident were employed by Fisher, a subcontractor or another company; or if the vehicles and crew were working on the Caltrans rehabilitation project.
Caltrans describes the larger I-10 Blythe rehabilitation program as a $241 million paving, beautification and safety project. The work includes the rehabilitation of 88 miles of concrete pavement lane, ramps and curbs, along with guardrails, bridges, signage and accessibility improvements.
Truck-mounted attenuators are shock-absorbing safety devices mounted on work vehicles to reduce the effects of shocks in active work zones. Nearly half of highway contractors surveyed by the Associated General Contractors of America earlier this year said the devices improved work zone safety performance.
The driver of the tractor, a 44-year-old man from Redlands, California, suffered serious head and leg injuries and was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, according to the Highway Patrol. Alcohol and drugs were not believed to be factors in the collision, and the cause remains under investigation.
The highway patrol has not released the estimated speed of the tractor-trailer, and available information does not state where the workers were in relation to the attenuator when they were struck.
