A construction worker was killed Thursday afternoon in a hit-and-run crash on Pflaum Road in Madison, Wisconsin, directly in front of Sennett Middle School. Police say the worker was doing road work when a vehicle struck them around 1:10 p.m., and speed appears to have been a factor. The driver left the scene, and the victim’s identity has not been released.
The investigation is moving quickly. Madison police have identified a person of interest who is now in contact with authorities. Separately, the driver of a potential second vehicle came forward voluntarily after a surveillance photo aired on local news. A neighborhood resident, Chuck Thompson, summed up the mood simply: “A construction worker. It’s not fair to them.”
That feeling travels well beyond Wisconsin. Anyone who has driven the Suncoast in summer knows what road crews deal with here, whether it’s a repaving project on US 41, lane closures on Gulf-to-Bay, or utility work along the barrier islands. Winter visitors arriving for the season will only add more traffic to those same corridors. Florida law requires drivers to slow to 20 miles per hour under the posted limit when workers are present, and those rules exist for exactly this reason. The people in the vests are neighbors, retirees picking up shifts, and parents trying to get home for dinner. Have you ever thought about how close traffic passes the person holding that sign?
