Nebraska lawmakers approved a settlement Friday to pay $1.5 million to an Ashland man permanently injured in an accident on Interstate 80 in October 2007. The victim, Tom Wolfe, 52, suffered a traumatic brain injury when a loose reflective pavement marker went through his vehicle and hit him in the forehead. A photograph of his work vehicle showed the rectangular hole in the windshield where the reflective marker went through and struck him in the head.
The pavement marker was one of about 53,000 installed on Nebraska highways since the early 1980's. An engineer for the Nebraska Department of Roads told the Omaha World-Herald Bureau that the agency had ceased using the reflective markers in new road projects prior to Tom Wolfe's accident. Since the accident, the Department of Roads spent about two years removing the markers, a project that cost the state more than $1 million. Other states, including Iowa, have removed their markers as well.
According to the Omaha World-Herald Bureau, the man injured was a master electrician before the accident, but has been unable to return to work, despite extensive therapy and rehabilitation. The settlement will cover his medical expenses and lost earnings due to his injury.
Sources: Omaha World-Herald Bureau
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