PEWAUKEE, Wis. — A deadly crash in Pewaukee leaves two people dead including a construction worker. A Waukesha man who was working a similar job as these construction workers, had his whole family involved in this deadly crash. But while his family is safe and whole, they can’t stop thinking about the construction workers who did not get to go home.
“It hits home,” said Justin Mach, a Waukesha man whose family was involved in the crash at Pewaukee Road and Capitol Drive.
He says his wife and kids are having a hard time after the serious crash. It left a string of people hurt and two dead. The driver was a 49-year-old man, according to police, driving a pickup truck.
“He came through the construction zone at a pretty high rate of speed, hit the other guys, went airborne, and hit my wife,” said Justin.
His wife was driving their three kids, ages 3, 9, and 13, in their SUV to baseball practice in Pewaukee. She was hit by the truck right after it struck a construction crew.
“She saw a truck go airborne and clip the back end of her Jeep,” said Justin. “It took her a second to realize what had happened.”
He says she got out of her car to help and saw two construction workers seriously hurt. One of the men, a 46-year-old, later died of his injuries.
“She is shaken up. Seeing the guys on the ground. It is something that sticks with you,” said Justin.
At the same time of the crash, Justin was working a construction job in Germantown, doing similar work right along the side of the road too.
“It is kind of eye-opening,” said Justin.
Just a month ago, we told you about a near miss of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation subcontract worker. WisDOT had put out a plea right before Memorial Day, warning people this was a busy construction season and drivers needed to pay attention.
“Last year, there were more than 2,100 work zone crashes in Wisconsin. That resulted in 712 injuries and 9 fatalities,” said Erin Schwartz, work zone operations engineer, at WisDOT.
Justin says today this crash happened in Pewaukee, but tomorrow it could be where he is working.
“It can happen at any point in time,” said Justin. “Pay attention to what you are doing on the roads, especially in construction zones. We are just out here trying to feed our families.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Wisconsin State Police reminds drivers, that if they catch you speeding in a work zone the fines start at $260. If you are on your phone in a work zone the ticket is $160.
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