A 34-year-old construction flagger was critically injured Monday morning when a vehicle crashed into a work zone on Archer Avenue near Parker Road in Palos Park. The driver of the vehicle was also taken to a hospital, though authorities have not released details about that person's condition. Both the flagger and the driver were rushed to local hospitals shortly after the crash, which happened just before 10 a.m.
According to FOX 32 Chicago, Palos Park police said the flagger was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. The outlet reported that police provided no information about the condition of the driver, who was also taken to a hospital following the crash on Archer Avenue.
Palos Park police are investigating the crash, and Illinois State Police are conducting a crash reconstruction, the station's report notes. Police said they expected the roadway to reopen shortly afterward. The department publicly thanked the Illinois State Police, the Lemont Police Department, and the Cook County Sheriff's Police for their assistance at the scene, per the same account.
A Growing Danger for Road Crews Statewide
The crash adds to a troubling pattern on Illinois roads. A Daily Herald report from earlier this year found that 35 people died in work-zone collisions across the state in 2025, an increase of 22 fatalities over 2024, though the Daily Herald reported that none of those deaths involved workers themselves. The same report, citing the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the state averages 6,195 construction-zone collisions and 1,073 related injuries every year.
The Illinois Department of Transportation also maintains detailed crash-trend data covering work-zone collisions, fatalities, and injuries from 2020 through 2024, though the specific figures in that table were not immediately available.
Flaggers Face Close Calls Beyond Illinois
The risks facing road crews are not unique to Illinois. In Pennsylvania last month, a flagger named Laura Rae Boscia recorded a driver ignoring flashing lights and warning signs before crashing into her crew's equipment in Collier Township, Allegheny County, according to PennLive. Boscia said she jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being struck herself.
In a separate account of that same Pennsylvania incident, WPXI reported that Boscia said the driver told her he had been distracted, and that another driver had nearly hit workers in the same zone about 10 minutes before the crash occurred. The incidents underscore how quickly ordinary traffic can turn hazardous for workers stationed just feet from passing vehicles.
No details have been released about what caused the Palos Park crash, and police have not said whether anyone involved has been cited or charged. The investigation by Palos Park police and the crash reconstruction by Illinois State Police remain ongoing.
