Words that will haunt me



By Dominic Harrington

Dominic Harrington and his wife, Rachel.

1454 to Area Four, 1454 TO AREA FOUR! 

Those words will haunt me my entire KDOT career. My name is Dominic Harrington and I am the District One Maintenance Superintendent in Topeka.

It was the morning of June 1, 2005, and I was a newly-minted KDOT Equipment Operator. It was a cloudy, rainy day and like so many others we were sent out to run our route, pick up trash, remove dead animals, straighten signs and so on. It seemed to be just another normal day in a Subarea, but this morning would be anything but normal.

Shortly after starting our day, we heard a frantic call over the radio, one of our co-workers had been struck on U.S. 75 highway. I thought to myself, “How could this happen?” Nobody should be on the roadway working this morning. Another co-worker and I were near the location of the incident, so we hurried as fast as we could to see if there was anything we could do to help. Luckily, a Kansas Highway Patrol Officer was already on scene and had called for an ambulance and back up to assist with traffic control.

Scotty McDonald had been struck and killed while picking up trash down in the ditch, off the edge of the roadway. Prior to this accident, our crew had always considered this a “safe place” to be working. One moment of inattentive driving had cost Scotty the ultimate price.

In the following days we abstained from working on the roads, attended grief counseling and generally were in a state of shock. The “safe place” we had was gone, leaving everyone on edge while working along the road. Fourteen years later when I hear a call to an Area Office, I always assume the worst has happened again.

Sometimes when really bad things happen, some good can come from it. Thanks to Marvin and Shirley McDonald, parents of Scotty, who have continued to show their support for roadworkers and their safety. With their help, the Move Over Law was enacted July 1, 2006, which has greatly helped to improve roadside safety. And Shirley has spoken at many events over the years about the need for safety in work zones. Marvin and Shirley, if you happen to read this, thank you!

Wherever your travels may take you, please watch out for emergency and maintenance crews working on the road. A few seconds to slow down and move over could make all the difference to someone’s father, mother, uncle, aunt or grandparent. Thank you.