Road Worker Hit By 'Impatient' Driver In Monsey Is Back On The Job

MONSEY, N.Y. -- A highway maintenance supervisor is lucky to be alive after being hit by a car in Monsey earlier this month, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Johnathan DeGraw, a father of two from Montebello, was flagging traffic for a pothole patching job on Route 306 when the unidentified, and apparently "impatient," driver started honking at him, the DOT said in a Facebook post.

Before DeGraw could step aside to wave motorists on, he was struck and flipped over the car, the DOT post said.

DOT spokeswoman Carol Breen said Friday that DeGraw -- who is back on the job -- injured his shoulder, knee, ankle and foot and is undergoing physical therapy.

"He's sore, but he didn't have any broken bones," she said.

Ramapo police said that the driver stayed at, and was interviewed, at the scene, but, as of Friday, had not been ticketed.

The incident, which is under investigation by the DOT, is nonetheless a cautionary tale, Breen said.

The simple message to drivers is, she said: “Be patient.”

“Everyone was roads to be fixed, to be safe,” Breen said. “But there is a segment of motorists who get very impatient when they have to wait at work sites.

The DOT understands, she said, that “people have places to go, have to get to work, have errands to run” and it does try to “minimize delays.”

But they won’t get through any faster by leaning on the horn, or “trying to scare our workers,” she said.

Members of highway maintenance crews could be your “brother, sister, son or daughter,” Breen said.

“They’re just human beings, doing their jobs,” she said, adding: “They just want to fix the roads and go home to their families at the end of the day.”

To visit the DOT’s work zone safety website, click here.

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