Worker hit and killed in Interstate 40 work zone south of Raleigh early Friday
A worker was hit and killed in a work zone on Interstate 40 south of Raleigh early Friday morning, according to the State Highway Patrol.
Kevarus N. Bowens had just removed a lane closure sign from the highway median and was crossing to his truck parked on the right shoulder when he was hit, according to the State Highway Patrol. The work ahead had been completed for the night and the lanes ahead were open.
Bowens, 45, lived in Lumberton and worked for Stay Alert Safety Services, a subcontractor for S.T. Wooten, the company widening a 13-mile stretch of I-40 south of the Beltline.
The crash took place near the U.S. 70 Business interchange in Garner at about 3:50 a.m., before dawn. Bowens was wearing a reflective vest, and his truck’s amber warning lights were flashing, according to the Highway Patrol.
Bowens was hit by a car and thrown to the pavement, where he was hit by a second car, according to the Highway Patrol. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neither driver is thought to have been speeding or impaired when they hit Bowens, according to the Highway Patrol, and neither has been cited. The crash remains under investigation, however.
The N.C. Department of Transportation and the highway construction industry drew attention to the safety risks of work zones earlier this year. There were at least 7,523 work zone crashes in North Carolina in 2023, according to NCDOT. That’s up from 6,258 the year before and well above the annual average of 5,821 over the previous decade, according to NCDOT data.
Those crashes killed 31 people last year — some of them workers, some of them riding in cars or trucks. Since 2013, nearly 290 people have been killed in construction zone crashes, according to NCDOT.
The department released a short statement Friday saying it was “heartbroken” by Bowens’ death and that its thoughts and prayers were with his family. It referred questions about the crash to the Highway Patrol.
This story was originally published August 23, 2024 at 12:10 PM.
