2nd highway worker killed on job in MD within days

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A worker was killed Tuesday afternoon while working on a maintenance project on U.S. Route 13 in Somerset County, the state’s second such on-the-job death within days, officials said.

According to the Maryland State Police, Dipakkumar Patel, 70, of Delmar, was sitting stationary in a Ford Fusion marked Maryland Department of Transportation on Route 13 at King Miller Road in Princess Anne. He was tending to a maintenance project when his vehicle was struck. 

Officials identified a Dodge Caravan, driven by a 31-year-old Salisbury woman, as the vehicle that hit Patel. The driver and a passenger in her car were transported to a hospital by ambulance.

Somerset County emergency service personnel pronounced Patel dead at the scene.

The Maryland State Police Crash Team is performing an active and ongoing investigation, the department said. The results will be presented to the Somerset County State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

On Saturday, a Maryland State Highway Administration employee was killed while responding to a crash on Interstate 495 in Prince George’s County.

In a statement to The Daily Record on Wednesday, Shanteé Felix, a spokesperson for the state highway administration, urged motorists to “slow down, move over and pay attention” on the road.

“The continued disregard for roadway workers is unacceptable and everyone must do better,” Felix said. “Your actions on our roads have real and life-changing impacts on families, friends and our colleagues.”

In a statement to The Daily Record on Wednesday, Rhyan Lake, a spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore, said the governor is reaffirming his administration’s commitment to protecting the state’s roadworkers and calls on all Marylanders to “recognize the very real dangers faced by the people who keep our roads safe.”

“The men and women who inspect, maintain, and improve our roads and highways deserve to come home safely at the end of every shift,” Lake said.

Patrick Moran, the president of the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represented both workers, said his union is “mourning again,” and his members are “angry” to find themselves in the same situation days later.

“Time and time again, state workers have brought up urgent health and safety concerns, only to be dismissed by every level or agency and state leadership,” Moran stated. “Both of these tragedies are a result of failures by the state of Maryland. How many workers need to lose their lives before enough is enough?”

This story has been updated with Lake’s, Felix’s and Moran’s quotes.