Road worker survives wrong-way driver crash: We want to get home safely, just like you

Man who survived Orchard Lake work zone crash: 'I heard a bang'

Doctors amputated Robert Dinkins? left leg. He?s also dealing with other injuries to his left side.

FOX 2 - In the month since a deadly work zone crash in Farmington Hills a family has been heartbroken over the loss of a husband and father who was killed.

The backstory:

And it has led Robert Dinkins through one of the toughest chapters of his life. Dinkins survived a driver barreling through road construction on Orchard Lake.

He was one of three Oakland County road workers who were struck by a vehicle traveling the wrong way. Dinkins and another worker survived the crash after being hit near Misty Pines Drive by an SUV.

After several grueling weeks in the hospital, he’s finally home.

FOX 2: "How does it feel to be sitting at home in this chair?"

"I feel great to be at home, great," Dinkins said.

Doctors amputated Dinkins’ left leg. He’s also dealing with other injuries to his left side.

Dinkins says he was doing sewer work when his life changed instantly.

"As I was coming out of the hole, I heard a bang," he said. "So I looked up, I turned around and looked up, a car was coming right at me. I thought I jumped out of the way in time, but I didn’t jump fast enough."

Out of more than 6,700 work zone crashes in Michigan — 23 of them were fatal, 28 people died - and more than 1,600 were injured.

As for the crash on Orchard Lake, Farmington Hills police haven’t said what the driver was doing before impact.

FOX 2: "What message do you want to send to people?"

"When you come into a construction zone, slow up," he said. "Let us do our job safely, because we want to get home safely just like you want to get home.

"We’re just out there to make the roads better for everybody. We don’t need people flying past us blowing their horns at us. There’s times when people would throw stuff at us, or stick the finger up at us."

Dinkins wants to see drivers show more compassion. Like many of us he plans to enjoy his Labor Day weekend with his family.