An investigation into the death of a city employee reveals he
and a co-worker didn’t place traffic cones or signs in the area
where he was struck by a vehicle and instead relied on a
”
customary city practice.
”
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An investigation into the March 14 death of a City of Gilroy maintenance employee reveals he and a co-worker didn’t place traffic cones or signs in the area where he was struck by a vehicle and instead relied on a “customary city practice” of saying, “Car,” whenever a vehicle approached.
The independent findings by Fremont-based firm Du-All Safety, LLC details the events surrounding the death of David Vogel, a 40-year-old city employee who died while performing routine street maintenance on Farrell Avenue in Gilroy.
Vogel worked for the city for 14 years.
In line with city procedures, Vogel and co-worker Tom Gotterba, a 22-year city veteran, did not place safety cones or signs where they were locating and marking utility lines because the work was not considered long-term and the road was “infrequently traveled,” according to the report.
Javier Hernandez, who lives on Farrell Avenue, told the Dispatch March 15 that drivers had a tendency to speed on that street, however, which has a posted school-zone speed limit of 25 mph because of its proximity to Antonio Del Buono Elementary School.
“They don’t go 25 though,” Hernandez said.
Vogel was struck by a van around 11 a.m. while he was performing maintenance on a manhole cover.
According to the report, Gotterba yelled “Car,” as the van approached Vogel. Gotterba doesn’t recall Vogel saying “Car” in return, but stated he believed Vogel saw the van approaching. As Gotterba bent down to mark the location of a utility line with spraypaint, neither saw the approach of the van or the impact, according to the report.
Vogel and Gotterba attended a flagger and traffic safety traning session Nov. 10, 2010, according to the report.
As of Tuesday, the Gilroy Police Department is also investigating the incident, according to Sgt. Chad Gallacinao.
Continue reading to view the report.
Accident reportvar docstoc_docid=”81325431″;var docstoc_title=”Vogel”;var docstoc_urltitle=”Vogel”;
