By Alexander Shedd
A VDOT contractor was killed early in the morning on Tuesday, June 28 after
being struck by a tractor-trailer in a work zone near I-81N mile marker 142 in Roanoke
County. Virginia state police stated that the worker, identified as 54-year-old Matthew C.
Frazier of Clifton Forge, was exiting a piece of construction equipment at 2:38 a.m. and
wearing a traffic vest when he was struck by the vehicle. Frazier was declared dead at
the scene of the accident.
As of press-time, police are currently examining camera footage from construction
vehicles in the area to determine the identity of the tractor-trailer driver, who did not stop
at the scene. A hit-and-run conviction involving a fatality in Virginia may carry with it the
penalties of a Class 5 or Class 6 felony, which respectively are punishable by 1-10
years in prison and fines of up to $2,500 or 1-5 years in prison with fines of $2,500 or
less.
VDOT reported that, in 2021, there were 28 fatalities attributed to VDOT work
zone crashes, two of which were VDOT contractors. In 2020, 17 work zone-related
fatalities were reported in Virginia. During VDOT’s annual National Work Zone
Awareness Week in April, Virginia State Police Superintendent Colonel Gary Settle
cautioned, “When you drive too fast through a work zone, you don’t have the time or the
space to react like you normally would outside of a work zone.”
