A challenge that could have cost him his life

Technical Trooper Phillip Metzen

I’m Technical Trooper Phillip Metzen with the Kansas Highway Patrol’s Troop I. On Dec. 1, 2025, after serving the state of Kansas for 11 years, I faced a new challenge within my career that almost cost me my life.

I responded to the scene of a non-injury crash on Highway K-96 in Wichita involving three motorists. Light snow was falling at the time, causing slick road conditions. I positioned my patrol car on the inside lane of the highway with my emergency lights activated to provide protection for the disabled vehicles involved in the crash. As I was relaying my location to dispatch, prior to exiting my vehicle, my patrol car was suddenly struck from behind.

I responded to the crash to help others, but within just nine seconds of stopping, I was the one who needed help.

The impact pushed my patrol car nearly 100 feet forward, despite it being in park. During the collision, my head struck the driver’s side visor and a mounted camera. I was then thrown back into the driver’s seat, which broke backwards, causing me to strike the pillar between the driver’s side doors.

The crash investigation revealed that the vehicle which struck my patrol car had failed to slow down and began sliding out of control several hundred feet back. The vehicle crossed three lanes of traffic before colliding with my patrol car.

As a result of the crash, I sustained multiple injuries, including a torn rotator cuff and labrum tear in my shoulder, which will affect me for the rest of my life. I am also still experiencing symptoms from the concussion I suffered and have ongoing medical appointments to aid recovery.

Working in law enforcement is dangerous, and I know the risks I face every day on the job. This was not the first time I’ve been struck by a motorist on the roadway; it was the third time since I began my career in 2015. If this crash had occurred just a few seconds later, I would have been outside of my patrol car, and I might not be here today to tell my story.

That is why I urge every driver to slow down when they see emergency lights ahead. It doesn’t matter if those lights belong to a police vehicle, a KDOT vehicle, an ambulance, a fire truck or a tow truck.

Life moves fast. Slow down so it doesn’t end too soon.

Never forget: Every day is a gift

Andréa Barnes at work (above) and at home (below).

 My name is Andréa Barnes, and I’m the Highway Maintenance Supervisor in Louisburg. I have worked for KDOT since 2001 and have had several close calls. Each one makes me realize how each day is a gift.

I love my job at KDOT and absolutely understand I am putting my life on the line to make improvements to the road. I don’t let my guard down and am continuously looking for an escape route. When I hear an air horn, I am getting out the way because in my world, that means we are about to get hit. In my opinion, the people who work on the roads are heroes, putting their lives on the line for the safety of others.

In March 2011, the Louisburg crew was patching potholes on U.S. 169.  I was in the lead truck with another co-worker. We had a pickup truck hooked to the patch trailer. It was a mobile work zone, so there was a dump truck with an attenuator right behind me and an arrow board about a quarter mile back from the attenuator truck.

I had just flipped my shovel over with cold patch when I heard the air horn. I looked at the operator in the attenuator truck to see which way I should run. He pointed to his left, which was in another lane of traffic.

I started to run when I heard my co-worker fall. I turned, grabbed his shoulders and pulled with all I had. After the full-size truck hit the attenuator, it spun the dump truck around on the passenger’s side. As I pulled my coworker, I saw the truck sliding sideways, missing his legs by only a foot.

The worker in the attenuator had terror in his eyes and said he couldn’t move.  I told him I would direct traffic around us until others arrived. I then saw the employee I dragged out of the way checking on the guy who hit our truck.

We talk frequently about how to warn the workers in front of the truck. In fact, I trained that attenuator truck driver. He was new, but he understood how important his job was. In my opinion, he did everything right and saved my life that day. He had the airbrakes set and turned the drive wheels toward the ditch. He was paying attention and pulled the air horn to alert us as soon as he realized he was going to be hit.

I remember him saying, “I thought I was going to watch you all die.” I told him because he honked the horn quickly, we had time to react and get away.

The guy who hit the truck was shaken up and said he was sorry. At the time, I didn’t want to hear that. I had a connection with these employees, and sorry just wasn’t enough.

On top of this, while directing traffic, a mini van parked on the shoulder. I told the guy he couldn’t stop there. But he screamed at me that his son was in the attenuator truck, and he needed to make sure he was OK.

So, I had him park at the top of the ramp, then helped his son get out of the attenuator truck. His father was in tears. He heard on the police scanner a KDOT truck was hit and knew his son was working there. Nothing was stopping him from checking on his son.  

We found out the driver was checking his Blackberry for emails; he looked up and there was nothing he could do. He hit us at 65 mph, and he never hit the brakes.

This incident affected him too. As I was pulling my co-worker out of the way, I remember seeing his face. He looked completely terrified. He later told people in Missouri at a rally to ban texting and driving that he remembered the look on our faces. He said he would not want to live with the fact if he had killed two highway workers.

It is now 15 years later, and I can still recall what people said, how it felt as the truck slid by us and the absolute fear I had inside of me. I went home that night and kissed and hugged my kids and told them, “You know I love you, right?”

I then fell apart while my partner just held me. We raised five wonderful kids and one of them is special needs, who didn’t understand why I was upset. But he knew I did everything in my power to come home each night to them. I was needed, loved and cared for by my family.

A headline might say, “Highway worker killed,” but it doesn’t include all the people in my life who love and need me. I survived that day, but others haven’t been so lucky. I am grateful things worked out, but highway workers shouldn’t have to pay with our lives. I will be forever changed by a choice someone else made.

While driving, and especially in work zones, remember that phone call, text message or email can wait. Pay attention; it is not worth killing someone. Our jobs are hard enough without having to live in constant fear.

I am now a supervisor myself, and my main goal is that all my employees go home safely every day. We are the hands that fill the potholes, the ones who repair the signs and plow the snow. Follow the signs and be alert. We shouldn’t have to pay for your bad choices.

 

 

Nothing surprises me anymore

KTA employee Kenny Olson

Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) employee Kenny Olson shared his story in 2017 about work zone safety. Kenny retired from KTA after 14 years of service.

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When you’re out on the roadway for a living, you hear, see and sometimes even experience scary moments. 

My name is Kenny Olson and I’m a Roadway Striping Foreman. I’ve been with KTA for 12 years and I have had more close calls on the roadway than many would think. Just last summer, I had vehicle crashes happen at two different times while painting roadway lines.

One of these was in Wichita on the entrance ramp from the K-96 plaza. We were painting the white line on the right side, early in the morning when a driver came down the entry ramp way too fast.

Because of her speed, she wasn’t able to move out the way in time and hit the corner of our attenuator (the crash cushion hooked at the back of a truck) and then bounced and hit the guardrail. She was lucky she didn’t hit the truck again after that but rather carried all the way through the right of way.

The other happened near Lecompton where the road goes from three lanes to two. We were on the right with the striper when, for a reason I still don’t know today, a semi-truck locks up his brakes while in the left lane. His cab cut between the attenuator truck and the truck ahead of it, and jack-knifed.

The trailer whipped so fast that it hit the attenuator sideways and ended up back in the roadway, blocking traffic. The driver just backed up and drove away! Luckily a trooper caught up to him at a service area soon after.

These are just my two most recent experiences, but there’s been so many more. From a motorist not paying attention and actually driving their vehicle between the barrier wall and our striping machine to another driver purposely driving into the grass and back up onto the road to avoid driving through the work zone. Nothing surprises me anymore, and that’s the sad reality.

We can take as many safety precautions as necessary, making changes to safety procedures, but ultimately, drivers need to pay attention. People are in such a hurry, on their phones, or even having a dog on their lap licking their face (yes, that was a real thing I saw once on the road). Leave sooner. Watch the roadway signs. Pay attention.

Too many close calls to even remember

KDOT employee Brian Link with his family.

KDOT employee Brian Link shared his story in 2018 about the need for safety in work zones. He has continued to serve as the Highway Maintenance Supervisor in Johnson County, and he’s been with KDOT nearly 25 years.

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My name is Brian Link. I have worked for KDOT for 17 years and am currently the Area Supervisor for Johnson County. During my time I have seen numerous crashes in and out of work zones. I personally have been struck two times on separate occasions while providing traffic control for maintenance operations.

The first time occurred while I was sitting on the shoulder in a dump truck with an arrow board. I was struck from behind by a car that was involved in a crash with another vehicle. My truck and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My second crash happened while we were patching potholes with a mobile lane closure. I was in the attenuator truck following the patch crew. The car that hit me had passed two other KDOT trucks on the shoulders stationed behind me to give advanced warning of the patching operations.

I was fortunate not to sustain any injuries from these crashes: although the people who hit me did suffer minor ones. These are just two examples of my personal experiences, but I have had too many close calls to even remember them all.  I try not to tell my wife about them all, as I do not want to worry her more about the danger that we face every day at work.

I think the biggest concern for me is even with all our lights, traffic control and advanced warning; our safety is in the hands of the citizens that travel the road every day. We rely on them to drive undistracted, not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, alert and to have their brain engaged and focused on the task of driving.

I sometimes feel the citizens driving do not see us as people with a family. A family we love and want to go home to. Furthermore, we are objects in their way obstructing their busy schedule, a nuisance that causes them to be delayed.

I want people to know that we are there providing a service to maintain the safety of the roadway. We have a job to do serving the citizens of Kansas and visitors to our great state. Give us a brake…pay attention, slow down and give us a lane.

Work Zone Safety - A Mom's Worst Nightmare

In 2010, Shirley McDonald shared her story about losing her son, KDOT employee Scotty McDonald, in a work zone fatality crash that happened in 2005.

This is just one of several stories that Shirley has shared during the past 20 years to help raise awareness of why work zone safety is so important. She has also spoken at events, appeared in public service announcements and talked with media.

Her efforts to improve work zone safety through the years are immeasurable. We’ll never know how many lives she saved from being lost in a work zone crash because her message slowed someone down, got them off the phone or made them more alert.

Please remember Shirley’s message every time you are in a highway work zone.

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By Shirley McDonald

Promoting work zone safety is a very personal issue for me. Whenever I pass a work zone, I am immediately reminded of the day my son, Scott McDonald, was killed while working.

What bizarre circumstances came together at the exact seconds that the driver left the road and struck him, tossing him into the air and eventually ending his life a short time later due to a massive head injury? Did the whole accident last long enough that he was aware and scared for his life? Was he in horrible pain during the last minutes of his life? Was he aware that others were with him within seconds struggling to save him? Did he know that he was not alone? Did he know how much we loved him?

Last weekend I traveled on local, state, and interstate highways where I became convinced that construction zone work is one of the most dangerous occupations that exist. I drove through the areas on a hot summer day with Kansas dust blowing, cars speeding by with little, if any, awareness of, let alone attention to, work zone speed limits or hazards. I saw drivers smoking, eating, talking on their cell phones, reading maps, disciplining children, just to note a few examples of less-than-attentive driving.

Occasionally my van rocked from the speed of drivers passing by and the force of the wind. The distance separating the work zone and workers from traffic sometimes looked like only inches, especially when concrete barrier blocks were set up or the area being constructed was small, like a two-way road with one lane each way, or an intersection in a high-traffic area. The workers concentrated on their work and seemed to be looking out for each other.

I thought about the workers out in those elements and how the weather must be affecting them and their ability to stay focused. I also wondered how they deal with the potential dangers without becoming too fearful to continue to do their jobs.

How can the workers protect themselves from the dangers all around? How can we who enter the work zones promote their safety? How can we promote the knowledge that those who work in a work zone are loved and valued individuals with someone waiting for them to come home?

 

Shirley McDonald is the mother of KDOT employee Scotty McDonald, who was killed in a work zone crash in 2005.

Never become complacent

Rick Carson, seated in center, is surrounded by his family.

 

KDOT employee Rick Carson shared his story in 2020 about the need for safety in work zones. He was promoted to Highway Maintenance Supervisor in January, and he has worked at KDOT for 10 years.

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My name is Rick Carson, and I am the Equipment Operator Specialist for the Syracuse Subarea office. I am coming up on my fifth year as a KDOT employee, having served as Specialist since July 2017.

During my short tenure as a KDOT employee, I have seen quite a few different circumstances that could have turned out very bad. I learned from early on that the best thing you can do to keep yourself safe is to keep your head on a constant swivel.

One of the most unforgettable experiences happened to me in the summer of 2019. We were patching holes on K-27 in the south part of Syracuse. The stretch of road
way is a four-lane undivided highway. The crew was working on the inside lane of the northbound lane. We had set up our work zone prior to beginning work with all the proper signs, cones, attenuator and a wedge diverting traffic into the right-hand lane. 

At some point that morning, I was standing along the center line, but still in the lane we were working in. There was some debris that had rolled over the center line, and I was going to step over the center line to sweep it back over into the hole. I was facing the north and looked to make sure no traffic was coming. 

I never looked south because there shouldn’t have been any traffic coming from that way, because we had our wedge set up pushing them right. WRONG! A truck coming from the south had crossed over the double yellow line. It was traveling north in the southbound lane and what was probably over the speed limit.

Luckily, one of my co-workers was looking that way and was able to get my attention, and I was able to step out of the way.

Thinking about it later that day, the one word that came to my mind was COMPLACENT. That day, at that particular time, I had become complacent and overly comfortable with my surroundings.

To my fellow KDOT workers, I would just like to remind you all that no matter what you are doing, always take the extra time to look around and make sure that you are doing it carefully. And always watch out for your co-workers.

To the traveling public, KDOT does what they do, to try and keep your family safe on the highways. So, in your travels, if/when you come up on any workers, anywhere, PLEASE, slow down, move over and obey the signs. Drive like it’s your family out there along the side of the road. Because we ARE somebody’s family.

 

Three seconds and Move Over Law

Lt. Tanner Blakesley's car was struck at full highway speed, which was propelled into
another vehicle that struck Lt. Blakesley and seriously injured him.

Kansas Highway Patrol Lt. Tanner Blakesley wrote his blog in 2022 about a crash that occurred in 2017 when he was a Master Trooper. He has served with the KHP for more than 10 years.

 

Lt. Tanner Blakesley

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By Lt. Tanner Blakesley, K28

I was a road trooper in the Topeka area for two years when I woke up in a ditch. The driver of the vehicle we had stopped was standing over me, asking me if I was okay. I realized I had been hit by my patrol car after a passing vehicle struck the rear of my car at full highway speed. Since that day, I have become a strong enforcer of the "Move Over Law."

That January was the first day I was training a new trooper. We had stopped a vehicle on I-470 in Topeka, and it became necessary to have the occupants exit their vehicle. I exited the patrol vehicle to help the new trooper with this task. I approached the driver's side of the vehicle, got the driver out of his car, searched him, and escorted him into the ditch.

During this time, several cars had not moved over. I diverted my attention from traffic and towards the new trooper while he had the passenger exit the vehicle. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ditch. I did not know what had happened. I was able to put the parts of my broken memory together after seeing the video from my patrol car cameras and talking to individuals at the scene. There’s nothing like seeing video of yourself launched off your vehicle's windshield into the air.

Three seconds after walking between the stopped vehicle and my patrol car, another vehicle hit the rear of my patrol car. The impact of my patrol car being hit propelled it into the vehicle I had stopped. Unfortunately, I was hit by the corner of the patrol car and thrown into the ditch. Three seconds later and my life, along with the driver of the stopped vehicle, could have been very different. Most likely, we both would have died that day because of a careless driver not moving over for emergency workers on the side of the road.

After waking up, I didn’t know just how bad I had been hurt. The new trooper checked on me first and told me not to move. I could see the new trooper was taking control of the crash scene. Luckily, he had managed to dive over the guard rail and escape serious injury.

Even though I knew I was hurt, I had adrenaline pumping through my body and got myself up and went up the ditch to help. I quickly realized my injuries were serious; I had to sit down and wait for more help. It would be four months before I returned to work, but I know I was lucky to be alive and lucky to be able to even go back to work.

Vehicles must Move Over or Slow Down for emergency vehicles and work crews not just because it is what the law requires, but because when a vehicle does not, it doesn't allow time for those in the way to react and try to get out of harm’s way. It's easy to become complacent when every day you see many cars not moving over.

Three seconds on one cold January day could have ended differently for several people because of an individual's carelessness and disregard of the Move Over Law. 

 

Note: The Kansas Move Over Law expanded on March 13 when Governor Laura Kelly signed Senate Bill 8, or the Move Over bill, into law. Drivers will now be required to move over to the outside lane or slow down and proceed with caution when passing disabled stationary vehicles displaying hazard warning lights.

This will help provide protections to disabled vehicles in addition to law enforcement, utility and road service vehicles. The new law will go into effect on July 1.