Contract Worker Dies After Falling from Moving Trailer

SNYDER, TX – A worker placing road signs on the highway was killed after falling off of a trailer near Snyder Monday.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, on Oct. 11 at 3:18 p.m., troopers with the DPS were dispatched to US Hwy 84 for the report of a single vehicle crash.

When they arrived, the troopers discovered a 2019 Chevy pickup that was towing a flatbed trailer that had ran over a worker who had been riding on the trailer.

The investigation of the crash revealed that the truck was traveling southeast on US-84 towing a flatbed trailer. The worker sitting on the trailer was putting up road signs.

The signs on the trailer began to lift up due to the wind causing the worker to lean back on them to hold them down. The passenger then fell off the left side and was run over by the trailer. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The the victim has been identified as 37-year-old Larry J. Valadez, of Waco. His body was taken to Miller Family Funeral Home in Snyder. 

At the time of the crash the weather was partly cloudy and the road condition was dry. The speed limit in that area is 75 mph.