Hit-Run Driver Runs Down I-90 Worker

An out-of-control driver slammed into a state Department of Transportation worker Thursday on Interstate 90, then sped from the scene in a battered station wagon as shocked commuters and road workers looked on.

The worker, whose name was not released, suffered serious injuries. He was doing maintenance work on the dirt shoulder of eastbound I-90 just past the Argonne Road on-ramp when the car hit him, department spokesman Al Gilson said.

Traffic had slowed because of road construction when witnesses reported seeing a station wagon go down the Argonne on-ramp about 12:50 p.m.

The driver never merged into eastbound traffic, instead swerving and skidding along the shoulder of the highway and grass embankment for about half a mile, Washington State Patrol troopers said.

The car then roared up the embankment, came back down and hit the worker, who was behind trucks and flashing signs warning drivers about workers along the road.

“The car was swerving all over the shoulder,” said WSP Lt. Bruce Clark. “Witnesses thought it was going to roll over.”

The worker was thrown up on the embankment before the driver punched the accelerator and sped away, troopers said. The motorist had not been located as of late Thursday.

The worker remained in serious condition at Sacred Heart Medical Center with head injuries and a broken leg, the WSP reported.

While I-90 road construction can mean major delays, Gilson reminds drivers that safety of highway workers comes first.

“They are just out there doing their job. People don’t realize that it is extremely dangerous,” Gilson said. “A split second of inattention can result in the serious injury or death of a highway worker.”

WSP troopers are looking for a late 1980s-model, bluish-silver Chevrolet or other General Motors-built station wagon with Washington plates. It had front-end and windshield damage from the crash.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the State Patrol at 456-4101, extension 0.