Atlanta I-85 Car Crash Kills Georgia DOT Worker

An Atlanta highway worker was killed when his truck was sideswiped as he was assisting a stranded motorist.
 
Forty-five-year-old Spencer Pass was a Georgia’s Department of Transportation Highway Emergency Response Operator.  HERO drivers patrol Atlanta interstates during rush hour, looking for motorists who are stranded on the side of the road because of car trouble, lack of gas or accidents.  They carry tools and gasoline and flash their lights in order to warn other drivers of obstacles on the roadway.
 
On Monday, January 31, 2011 Mr. Pass was assisting a motorist along I-85 south of downtown Atlanta. He parked his truck behind a Ranger stopped in the emergency lane. Pass and the Ranger driver were standing in front of the disabled pickup truck when a dual-axle Ford F-450 pulling a landscaping trailer went by.  The Ford sideswiped the HERO truck, then the Ranger, and then hit Pass. The Ranger driver was able to jump out of the way.
 
Pass was fatally injured.  The father of three is the first fatality in the 15 year history of the HERO program.
The Atlanta highway accident is still under investigation and no charges have been filed.