Patrol: Driver not at fault in fatal accident

A truck driver was determined not to be at fault for the death of a Missouri Department of Transportation employee that occurred Friday.

The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. in a construction site on northbound Interstate 55 south of Route KK near Old Appleton. Robert Eftink, 62, of Marble Hill, Mo., was working at the site when a dump truck backed over him.

"As far as we can tell, the truck driver was doing exactly what he should have been doing," Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Mark Winder said Tuesday. No citations will be issued in the accident.

The truck that backed over Eftink was between two others backing up in the outside lane closed to traffic. All three vehicles traveled on the roadway, and none veered off to the shoulder, Winder said.

The vehicles were backing up to deliver asphalt to a machine that would lay it, according to Mark Shelton, the department's district engineer for Southeast Missouri.

Neither the driver of the striking vehicle nor the driver of another truck saw the victim, Winder said.

While the driver was cleared of any fault, it was unclear how the accident occurred. Winder speculated the victim could have tripped, got caught up in the machinery or was not paying attention.

Shelton said it was Eftink's job to inspect the work done at the site, but he did not know specifically what the victim was doing at the time of the accident.

Eftink was a MoDOT employee for 20 years and worked as an intermediate construction inspector overseeing subcontractors, according to Shelton.

Supervisors at the construction sites are required to wear orange vests and hats, Shelton said. Eftink had been wearing the vest, but was not wearing the hat at the time of the accident, according to Winder.

Flags at state buildings were flown at half-staff Monday to honor Eftink.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127