2 dead, 2 injured in driveway paving accident
A runaway truck struck and killed two men in a Bobcat, and injured two others, early Tuesday in a driveway paving accident at 4617 Old Dalton Road.
According to Floyd County Police Department Sgt. Chris Fincher:
Cody Hauser, 19, of Cartersville, and John Hunter Lane, 21, of Kingston, were killed. They were driving a Bobcat up a mile-long driveway paving project when the runaway truck struck the vehicle.
The driver of an excavator told police that he was loading asphalt onto a Cornerstone Concrete flatbed truck, which was facing downhill, when the truck began rolling down the hill. The truck’s brakes had failed, Fincher said, and Hauser was in the bucket of the Bobcat being driven by Lane when it was struck.
The vehicles both then traveled approximately 50 feet off-road and down an embankment, where they were found by first responders, including the Rome-Floyd Fire Department.
Two men in the truck were also injured.
The driver, Samuel Hancock, no age available, was airlifted to Erlanger in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with serious injuries. The passenger of the truck, Albert Starr, no age available, was transported to Atrium Health Floyd.
“The (Rome-Floyd) Fire Department did a tremendous job,” Fincher said. “Not only dealing with the heat but also traversing the terrain to get to the scene of the accident and provide assistance.”
Six people were working at the paving site, operated by Kevin Gurley Inc., when the accident occurred around 9 a.m. OSHA personnel are investigating the incident.
This marks the second time in eight days workers have died at local construction sites.
On June 6, a Carrollton construction worker died near the Etowah River Bridge on U.S. 411 in Bartow County. Filogonio Ortiz, 54, was run over by a truck he had parked at the construction site, Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton said.
Crews were cleaning up and shutting down for the day, Guyton said. The truck apparently started to roll and Ortiz tried to stop it but was run over in the process.