After his mom's death, son makes plea for drivers to slow down, pay attention in work zones

Nearly a year after his mother was hit and killed while working in for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), her son is pleading for drivers to slow down and pay attention, especially in work zones.

Anna Bradshaw had worked for NCDOT for 12 years when she died from injuries sustained from being hit by a driver on Friday, August 12, 2022.

According to NCDOT, she and other maintenance employees were clearing a fallen tree on U.S. 264 Alternate in Wilson County after a storm when the accident happened. Bradshaw was directing traffic at the site when she was hit.

The driver left the scene but was arrested the next day, according to police.

"I think what people fail to realize is not only does it affect your ability to have good reaction time, but you're affecting other's ability to react to you," said her son Thomas Ramirez.

"I think people need to slow down and realize not only are you putting yourself in danger, but more so, there's lives of other people that you've never even met that just want to go home."

NCDOT says its number one goal is safety in all of its work zones across the state and they work every day to make sure every employee gets home safely.

"Everyone wants to cross the finish line and, unfortunately, that wasn't possible for my mother," Ramirez said. "I hope that by sharing this message, it will make drivers a little bit more aware when they do operate their vehicles - that they should slow down and pay attention," Ramirez added.

In May, 33-year-old Claude Bryant, an Asphalt Superintendent with S.T. Wooten, was killed in a work zone on I-40 in Wake County. The company was working via contract for NCDOT.

The driver left the scene but was arrested shortly after the crash.