Aaron Griesheimer – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

Effort lead by family of MODOT worker killed by driver results in new license revocation law

The family of a highway worker killed at a job site hopes a law signed this month will keep others from facing the same tragedy.

Lyndon Ebker was killed in an April, 2016 crash while he was working in a MODOT work zone near New Haven. The driver who hit him was allowed to continue driving for more than two and a half years, and Ebker’s family and MODOT workers said that was wrong.

The driver who struck and killed Lyndon Ebker in a work zone near New Haven more than three years ago had impaired vision, but was allowed to keep driving until this past November when his license was revoked for life. Ebker’s family and the Department of Transportation said that driver put others in danger and he should’ve been forced off the roads more quickly.

House Bill 499 would require the Department of Revenue’s Director to revoke a driver’s license if a law enforcement officer reports that the driver’s negligence contributed to a worker or emergency responder being hit in a work or emergency zone.

Ebker’s daughter, Nicole Herbel, pushed for the legislation, which was signed into law this month by Governor Mike Parson (R).

“I just want people to think about it when they’re seeing the cones or the orange flags, even the trucks, I want this law to make them stop and think, ‘That gentleman was hit and killed because somebody didn’t slow down,’ or even just to remember that they’re humans that are standing there,” said Herbel. “Awareness really is the biggest thing for us.”

The accident that killed Ebker happened in Representative Aaron Grieshemer’s (R-Washington) district, and he sponsored HB 499. He said he was concerned with how long the man who killed Ebker was allowed to keep driving while his case moved through the courts.

“I have heard stories from some MODOT employees that worked with Mr. Ebker that feared for their lives because knowing that this gentleman was out there driving still,” said Griesheimer. “I’d heard another report that he had almost hit somebody else in the City of Hermann, so it was definitely a safety factor involved in this.”

The legislation was a top priority for the Department of Transportation this year, so much so that MODOT Director Patrick McKenna testified for it in a House committee. He told lawmakers it was needed to help protect the agency’s workers.

“We try to keep our roads primarily open while we’re working on them. It’s a considerable challenge, but we have to do it safely so we can honestly look at our employees and say the way that we’re structured will guarantee you the ability to go home every single day after shift to your family and friends, every time throughout your entire career,” McKenna told House Communications. “We have a memorial here just about 100 yards from where I’m sitting right now with the names of not only Lyndon Ebker, but 133 other MODOT employees that through our history have lost their lives providing public service on behalf of Missouri.”

Representative Aaron Griesheimer (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

McKenna thanked all those involved in getting HB 499 through the legislative process and into law, including Rep. Griesheimer, Governor Parson, the Ebker family, the bill’s Senate sponsor, Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, and Justin Alferman, Parson’s legislative director who also filed the legislation when he was a state representative.

Herbel said though her family suffered a tremendous loss, they didn’t back HB 499 out of seeking revenge. She said they were doing what her father would’ve done.

“If he saw someone doing something that was going to hurt themselves or hurt other people he did not hesitate to speak up, and that’s why this law is so fitting because if he had lived through this accident he would’ve done something to keep people safe. He would not have just taken the injury and went on. He would’ve turned around and fought for something to change.”

If a driver’s license is revoked under the new law, the license holder can seek its reinstatement by taking and passing the written and driving portions of the driver’s test, or petitioning for a hearing before a court local to the work zone where the accident occurred.

HB 499’s language is also included in Senate Bill 89, which has also been signed by the governor. Both bills effect August 28.

Another provision in HB 499 increases the fees licenses offices can charge for state services, such as issuing driver’s licenses and license plates.

Earlier stories:

House proposes tougher license revocation laws for those who hit workers, emergency responders

Family of MODOT worker killed in work zone asks lawmakers to toughen license revocation law

House proposes tougher license revocation laws for those who hit workers, emergency responders

The Missouri House has proposed that the Department of Revenue Director be given authority to revoke the license of a driver who hits a road or utility worker in a highway work zone or an emergency responder at the scene of an emergency.

House Bill 499 was written in response to the death of a highway worker nearly three years ago. The man who struck and killed Lyndon Ebker in a work zone near New Haven was later revealed to suffer from macular degeneration that impaired his eyesight, but he was still driving more than two years later.

HB 499 was sent from the full chamber back to a House Rules committee for more work after some legislators raised concerns that earlier versions of it would deny a person of due process. Bill sponsor Aaron Griesheimer (R-Washington) said the changes address that.

“There were some concerns expressed to me that, well what if there was a mechanical issue on your vehicle and you struck a highway worker, and so we added some language in there that states whether the investigator had probable cause to believe the person’s negligent acts or omissions contributed to his or her vehicle striking that individual,” said Griesheimer.

Ebker’s family and the Department of Transportation pushed for the legislation. Lawmakers heard that the workers who’d been on Ebker’s crew felt unsafe because they knew the man who’d killed him was still on the road.

Kansas City representative Greg Razer (D) was one of those who listened to their testimony in a committee hearing.

“That was a tough day to sit through … hearing the pain of those families, and these are men and women who are working very hard for our state in rain, sleet, snow, blazing hot sun, and I hope we can go forward with this and also let Missourians know that when you get to a work zone you need to slow down. You need to pay attention and be extra cautious,” said Razer.

Odessa Republican Glen Kolkmeyer also sits on the Transportation Committee. He said he’s glad to see this proposal advancing.

“I had a firefighter killed in the line of duty by a gentleman who came over a hill that should have never been on the road,” said Kolkmeyer. “We’re getting to name that road after that firefighter that was killed.”

Under the bill an officer investigating a work zone or emergency zone accident in which a worker or emergency responder was hit can file a report to the Department. The Director will revoke a driver’s license if he finds, based on that report, that the driver was at fault.

The driver then will have 15 days to prove competency by retaking and passing the driver’s test or by appealing to courts local to where the accident happened. If the court finds the driver was involved in hitting a worker; the work or emergency zone was properly marked; and the investigating officer found probable cause that the driver was at fault, the license revocation would stand.

Representative Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville) was one of those who raised concerns about due process with the earlier bill language. He said that 15 day provision answers his concerns. He now supports the bill.

“These workers are in a fearful position. That’s every day cars are whipping by them, and there’s two types of people that will hit them. One is those who aren’t competent to be driving. This will quickly remove them from the road. The second one is those who are driving reckless, and keep in mind those are the people we are putting more fear in,” said Veit. “They know if they do something they’re going to have swift, fast consequences, and I think this is another tool in the chest we need to protect the workers and to honor the workers who do this dangerous work and let us keep our roads open.”

In November the driver who struck Lyndon Ebker pled guilty to two charges and his driving privilege was revoked for life.

The House voted 149-5 to send the bill to the Senate.

Earlier story: Family of MoDOT worker killed in work zone asks lawmakers to toughen license revocation law

Family of MoDOT worker killed in work zone asks lawmakers to toughen license revocation law

More than two-and-a-half years after Lyndon Ebker was struck and killed while working on a MoDOT Road Crew, the man that struck him was still driving. Ebker’s family, the Department of Transportation, and Representative Aaron Griesheimer (R-Washington) say that’s not right, and they’re asking the legislature to change state law because of it.

MoDOT employee Lyndon Ebker of New Haven was killed in an April 2016 accident in a work zone outside his hometown. His death prompted the filing of House Bill 499. (photo courtesy of the Ebker family)

“When I say we lost a good man, I mean we lost a good man,” Ebker’s daughter, Nicole Herbel, told the House Transportation Committee. “A man who cared for others and always put others in front of himself. If you would’ve been able to ask him why he would’ve told you just what he told me: ‘I do what needs to be done,’ Let’s do what needs to be done and fix this process together.”

The man who struck Ebker was later revealed to have macular degeneration. Even so, neither his physician, family, nor law enforcement investigating the crash reported him as an unsafe driver, to require that he take driver testing.

The committee is considering House Bill 499, which would allow a driver’s license to be revoked if that driver hits a highway worker or an emergency responder while in a properly marked work or emergency zone. The license would be revoked upon notification by law enforcement to the Department of Revenue.

“The purpose of this bill is to, obviously, protect our highway workers,” said Griesheimer, the bill’s sponsor. “We have a need out there.”

Backers say the bill would make sure whether drivers who have been involved in work zone accidents are competent to be on the roads. A driver whose license has been revoked could seek reinstatement by taking and passing the written and driving parts of the driver’s license exam, or petitioning for a court hearing.

Since 2000, work zone incidents have claimed the lives of 13 employees of Director Patrick McKenna’s Department of Transportation. He told the committee, “Justice was not operating quickly,” in the case that left Ebker dead.

Lyndon Ebker’s daughter, Nicole Herdell, recounted for lawmakers the work zone incident that killed her father in 2016 and asked them to pass House Bill 499. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“This is a substantial problem for us. In these cases – we are talking about at-fault crashes, not accidents. That is a distinction, and that is a distinction that there is due process to determine. We’re not looking to remove anybody’s rights. We’re simply trying to be able to operate and maintain the system with safety,” said McKenna.

State Maintenance Engineer Becky Almeroth told the committee other workers in the region where Ebker was killed felt unsafe after the accident because the driver who hit him was still on the road.

“For the last 2.5 years those coworkers in this very tight-knit community had to live with the fact that they would get texts on an almost weekly basis, several times a week, letting them know that this driver was out driving at the time. So their minds at the time, they’re not going to put a work zone in that area because they know the routes that he usually takes. There are many times that these workers saw him in the convenience store, saw him in the grocery store, and they know this is somebody that could potentially put others in harm’s way,” said Almeroth.

Griesheimer said he is considering amending the bill to say that drivers could also have their licenses revoked for hitting utility workers in work zones. One lawmaker suggested extending the language to cover hitting anyone in a work zone.

The committee has not yet voted on his bill.