Highway work can be dangerous business — for crews and motorists. Especially when the drivers whizzing by aren’t watching the road.

Since spring, five crews on Missouri highways came within inches of getting struck by drivers who either were not paying attention, were speeding or impaired, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The workers were painting stripes. In a striping operation, as many as three trucks travel behind the paint truck with flashing lights that warn motorists to slow down and change lanes.  In some cases, the motorists were injured.

* On Interstate 44 near St. Clair, a motorist swerved  her car at the last minute to avoid a striping crew on March 26. She ended up rolling her car.

* At Interstate 270 near the Tesson Ferry exit, a motorist on March 30 struck one of the maintenance trucks. The truck had material on the rear bumper that absorbed the impact. The motorist receieved two tickets and totalled his car.

* In dowtown St. Louis, a semi-truck driver was passing a striping operation on Interstate 70 on May 12. He hit the yellow paint carriage on the striper and almost ripped it from the truck. Paint and reflective beads spilled all over the highway. The semi came inches from hitting one of the highway worker’s head. The driver of the semi fled the scene, but then hit another car at the next intersection. He was arrested.

* On Interstate 70 near Concordia, another semi struck the back of a truck that was part of a striping operation on May 18. The MoDOT truck rolled twice before coming to rest in the median, but its driver was not injured.

* On Interstate 29 near Mound City, two semi’s were driving side by side and approaching a striping crew on April 22. The driver of one of the trucks swerved at the last minute and clipped a maintenance worker driving a truck behind the striping crew. The MoDOT truck was totalled and the semi was in bad shape, too. No one was injured.