A six-year veteran of the New York State Thruway Authority was killed Monday afternoon when a vehicle struck his roadside mowing crew on westbound Interstate 287 in White Plains. Jamil Wilson, 47, a lifelong White Plains resident, died in the crash while his fellow crew members escaped without injury.
The crash happened around 2:27 p.m. near Exit 6 for Broadway, according to New York State Police, as reported by Daily Voice. Wilson was assigned to a roadside mowing crew working in the Cross Westchester Expressway maintenance section at the time he was struck, according to Mid-Hudson News.
Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank G. Hoare announced Wilson's death in a statement, saying, “It is with deep sadness that I announce that Jamil B. Wilson, a dedicated Thruway maintenance worker in our Cross Westchester Expressway maintenance section, tragically passed away yesterday.” The New York State Department of Transportation also posted a message of support on social media, writing that it stands with its “NYSThruway partners” and extending condolences “to their family, friends, and colleagues.”
A Devoted Father Remembered by Colleagues
Wilson is survived by his longtime partner, Taidra, and their two children. The same Mid-Hudson News report describes him as a devoted father and dependable teammate, with local community members and colleagues sharing memories of a man deeply rooted in the White Plains community where he lived his entire life.
A Growing Pattern of Work Zone Danger on New York Highways
Wilson's death adds to a troubling trend across the state's toll highway system. In 2025, work zones along the New York State Thruway recorded 228 crashes resulting in 28 injuries, the highest annual work zone crash total on the toll system since 2020, according to New York State Police. Statewide, roadways maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation saw 366 work zone crashes in 2025, causing 58 injuries and two fatalities, per the AASHTO Journal.
That danger is not unique to New York. Federal Highway Administration data for 2024 show that 850 people were killed in work zone crashes nationwide, with drivers and vehicle passengers accounting for 79 percent of those deaths and speeding contributing to 34 percent of fatal wrecks, according to the Law Offices of Norman Gershon. The New York State Department of Transportation has recorded 59 line-of-duty worker fatalities in its history, including the May 2025 death of maintenance supervisor Robert Bornt, who was struck by a vehicle that intruded into a Pittstown work zone, a loss that led state lawmakers to name a Rensselaer County bridge in his honor.
State Enforcement Efforts and Driver Obligations
To combat the rising toll, state troopers have launched Operation Hard Hat, in which officers dress as highway maintenance personnel inside active work zones to catch speeding and distracted drivers, issuing dozens of tickets during targeted details. New York also expanded its Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement program in 2026, deploying mobile radar camera vehicles that can monitor speed compliance in work zones across nearly any state-maintained road, the AASHTO Journal reports.
Under New York's Move Over Law, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1144-a, drivers are legally required to slow down and switch lanes when approaching active construction, maintenance, or disabled vehicles stopped on highway shoulders, a requirement Hoodline detailed in its coverage of a fatal Nesconset road crew crash in August. Initial violations of the law can trigger fines up to $150. It remains unclear whether the driver involved in Monday's I-287 crash faces criminal charges or traffic citations, whether automated speed cameras were active at the White Plains mowing site, or whether work-zone buffer vehicles were positioned during the operation.
Monday's tragedy comes just weeks after another fatal crash on the New England Thruway section of I-95 in Westchester County, and roughly a month after a speeding driver triggered a multi-vehicle pileup elsewhere on the Thruway system, underscoring how frequently the state's highway corridors have turned deadly for workers and travelers alike in recent months.
