Macon workers pinned between pickup and solid waste truck

Two Macon-Bibb County solid waste workers were seriously injured after being hit by a pickup and pinned to their truck.

Just before 8 a.m. Wednesday, Quincy Joyce, 30, and Eric Hill, 40, were loading yard waste when a 2001 Ford pickup hit them and trapped them up against the back of the International 7400 sanitation truck.

David Gordon, who lives nearby, watched as firefighters worked to free the Macon men.

“One of them were crying real bad and the other one, I think he was unconscious,” Gordon said. “I hope they got them to the hospital in time.”

The driver of the pickup, 52-year-old Nedra Mack, of Macon, was not hurt, but her air bag did deploy as she struck the truck in the eastbound lane of Tredway Drive, not far from New Clinton Road. “I don’t know if the sun blinded her or not,” Gordon said.

After firefighters freed the workers from the wreckage, the men were rushed by ambulance to the Medical Center, Navicent Health.

Joyce and Hill were in serious but stable condition, according to a release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

The sanitation truck driver, 38-year-old Dennis Fitzpatrick of Macon, had stopped in the 2600 block of Tredway so the crew could pick up tree branches from a pile in front of a yard.

A dispatcher’s voice from the radio in the cab of the truck asked for prayers for the men and their families.

Darrell Jennings was getting his son ready for school when he heard the crash from his home across the street.

“It’s a tragedy,” Jennings said as he watched from his front porch.

Signs note the 25 mph speed limit and “kids at play,” he said.

“I don’t understand how you don’t see that huge truck coming down this road,” Jennings said.

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office is investigating the accident.

Anyone with information is urged to call a traffic investigator at 478-751-7500.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Macon workers pinned between pickup and solid waste truck."