A 48-year-old U.S. Postal Service worker was left in critical condition Thursday afternoon after a car struck him and then hit his mail truck on the 4300 block of Ashburner Street in Northeast Philadelphia. The carrier had been standing behind his postal vehicle collecting mail for delivery when the collision happened around 2:38 p.m., sending the truck up onto the sidewalk and into a nearby fence.
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, police say the vehicle was headed westbound on Ashburner Street when it struck the postal worker as he collected mail near his truck. The impact caused severe leg injuries and facial trauma, police said, and the man was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Police told the outlet the driver was cooperating with the ongoing investigation. As of the outlet's report, no charges had been filed and no arrest had been made in connection with the crash.
A Stretch of Road With a Grim History
Ashburner Street has been the site of serious crashes before. Back in 2013, a Philadelphia police officer driving 100 mph fatally struck a 55-year-old van driver at State Road and Ashburner Street, an incident that ended with the officer's conviction and a state prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Hoodline also reported on a fatal triple-vehicle crash near that same intersection in 2024 that killed a teenager and injured five others.
A Familiar Danger for Postal Carriers
Thursday's crash echoes other incidents involving postal workers struck while performing their duties on Philadelphia streets. In June 2019, a 46-year-old USPS carrier was critically injured in Southwest Philadelphia when a stolen SUV struck him while he sorted mail behind his parked delivery truck, per CBS Philadelphia; the driver in that case fled on foot before later being arrested. And in March 2016, a 64-year-old USPS worker was fatally struck by an 18-year-old driver on the 7300 block of Lindbergh Boulevard, according to PhillyVoice, with police reporting the worker was struck outside a crosswalk.
Pennsylvania's Move Over Law, Act 105 of 2020, provides protections in certain circumstances for emergency responders, people in or near disabled vehicles displaying specified markings, and stationary trash or recycling trucks, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. PennDOT says violations that injure or kill an emergency responder or a person in or near a disabled vehicle can bring additional fines of up to $10,000, along with specific license-suspension rules.
Federal Protections and a Widening Injury Trend
Under 18 U.S. Code § 111, inflicting bodily injury on certain federal officers or employees is a federal felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, per the U.S. Department of Justice.
The crash also fits a broader pattern researchers have flagged in recent years. Emergency department–treated occupational injury rates among postal and parcel delivery workers climbed between 2015 and 2022, running counter to the overall national decline in workplace injuries, according to a study published via the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The study also examined injuries among postal and parcel delivery workers.
Hoodline has covered other local incidents in recent months. The carrier was initially reported in critical condition, and the investigation continues.
