scope:

Description of Driving Event:

The following occurred at a non-NASA facility and is provided as a courtesy because what happened here can happen anywhere.

A pedestrian was walking within a marked walkway adjacent to a material handling staging area and a roadway outside a building. The forklift was traveling in the same direction and was in the process of traversing from the roadway, across the pedestrian walkway, to the material handling staging area. The pedestrian was struck and his right leg was severely injured.

The investigation determined the equipment operator was traversing his forklift across the pedestrian walkway into the Material Handling staging area to pick up freight. As he made a shallow right turn, he heard a thump, saw the pedestrian falling and stopped immediately. The operator stated he never saw the pedestrian prior to striking him with the forklift.