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It was a rare and unexpected death: A postal worker in the middle of her shift delivering mail in the Silver Lake area is killed in a traffic accident, her postal truck left on its side after the impact.
"The postal employee was going eastbound on Lyric, going to make a left turn, northbound on Hyperion; we have another vehicle that was going southbound on Hyperion that collided with the postal vehicle and unfortunately the postal employee was killed," said Lt. Larry Swanson, LAPD Central Traffic Division.
LAPD accident investigators say either the postal worker or the other driver, also a woman, may have run a red light. But they haven't ruled out the possibility that the postal truck's brakes may have failed.
Investigators added the postal worker was not wearing her seatbelt.
"We take them for granted as we drive around the streets and do their good service, but they're in a vehicle too, and things can happen," said Lt. Swanson.
Larry Dozier, U.S. Postal Service spokesperson, says the victim was a temporary employee with the department for two years. She had been working this route in Silver Lake for six months.
"This is quite difficult for postal employees, for the community, and for the families involved," said Dozier. "It's rare that we have a fatality of a postal service employee delivering mail. In fact, it's been over 25 years or so here in Los Angeles."
Dozier said there will be grief counselors at the Silver Lake station where the postal employee worked. The name of the postal worker has not been released.
The other driver is a 50-year-old woman. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. She had three passengers in her car. They were also taken to a hospital, but they were not injured.
