Road crew worker killed when dump truck backs up over him, SC coroner says
A South Carolina man working on a road crew was killed Wednesday when he was hit by dump truck going in reverse, the Oconee County Coroner’s Office said.
Joe Milton Bridges, Jr., a 58-year-old Liberty resident, died at the scene, Coroner Karl Addis said.
The collision happened at about 9 a.m. on S.C. 11 in Oconee County, according to Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Bridges was working for King Asphalt in a highway resurfacing construction zone on S.C. 11, near the intersection with Fire Station Road, Addis said.
Bridges was described as a pedestrian when he was hit by a 2017 Kenworth dump truck that was backing up in the southbound lane, according to Ridgeway.
The truck was owned by King Asphalt, Addis said.
Ridgeway said the dump truck driver was not hurt, and no other injuries were reported.
The crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol, and an autopsy has been scheduled.
Through Monday, 849 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,091 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least nine people have died in Oconee County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. There were 16 deaths reported in the county in 2022, DPS reported.
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