Road Construction Flagger Struck on Highway 6 North of Lion's Head Says Driver Never Slowed Down
A 59-year-old flagger says he was struck in a marked work zone and the driver kept going. He is recovering from internal and soft tissue injuries, unsure when he can return to work.
A road construction flagger struck by a vehicle Thursday afternoon is home recovering, unsure when he’ll be able to return to work and hopeful Grey Bruce OPP catch the driver responsible before they harm anyone else.
Teddy Burak, a 59-year-old Toronto resident, was partway through his first day flagging on Highway 6 at the Caudle Sideroad intersection, north of Lion’s Head.
“We just laid fresh asphalt and when it’s fresh like that, it’s difficult to get off it,” he says. He was working the north end of a strip of fresh pavement, partnered with flagger positioned near Wilson Home Building Centre.
“Our goal is to make sure traffic keeps flowing and the guys working are safe.” But despite the marked construction zone, active roadwork, and his construction gear, Burak says the northbound vehicle that struck him while leaving the zone didn’t even slow down.
He remembers that it was a man driving an orange-coloured SUV towing a utility trailer. Burak describes the man as between 60 and 75 years old, with a thin build and short hair.
He describes a female passenger as around the same age, with white shoulder-length hair and glasses. He says he’s particularly bothered by the woman in the passenger seat seemingly having no regard for his wellbeing, and can’t help but wonder if he was struck intentionally.
Descriptions provided by Teddy Burak
Vehicle: An orange SUV with two occupants towing a utility trailer, travelling northbound on Highway 6 just after 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
Driver: A man, roughly 60 to 75 years old, thin build, short hair.
Anyone with information can contact the Grey Bruce OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or cstip.ca to remain anonymous.
“I only got a glimpse of her as I was going over the windshield, my body sort of contorted, and I just remember making eye contact with her and she didn’t even look concerned,” he said Saturday.
Burak says when he was struck, he was propelled up onto the hood, and remembers his body being flung into the air. But he doesn’t remember hitting the ground.
As for the occupants of that vehicle, he says, “They didn’t pause, slow down, check on me… nothing. They didn’t care.”
One of the contractors tried to give chase and went looking for them, Burak says, but couldn’t catch up to them.
However, that other flagger had seen the couple pull out of Wilson’s hardware, he says. Burak believes Grey Bruce OPP visited the location as part of their investigation. He says he was given the officer’s name and an incident report number, but hasn’t heard anything since the incident.
Initially, he told first responders he was okay and didn’t need an ambulance. “I think I was in shock… on an adrenaline rush,” he says. “But an hour later, that’s when it all started.”
Burak had intended to finish his workday. Once his leg began swelling and he realized the severity of his injuries, the company he was contracted to work for had a colleague transport him to the Brightshores Health System hospital in Lion’s Head. There, he was assessed, had x-rays, and was kept overnight.
On Friday, he was transferred to Brightshores’ Owen Sound hospital for a CT scan. Burak said they discovered blood in his right lung, and extensive soft tissue damage from the impact of first being hit by the vehicle, then falling to the road.
With no feeling in his left foot and his left knee swollen, he’s left using crutches to get around his home, and relying on his partner for care.
Burak was initially prescribed one week bedrest and one week light duties by the emergency physician in Lions Head. He says he saw his family physician on Saturday and was ordered an additional two weeks of bedrest because of the internal injuries. Only then will they reassess and determine if and when he may be fit to return to work.
In the meantime, Burak and his partner are thankful for the kindness of the people he encountered in his short time working the site, and in the aftermath of the collision.
“That was my first day in that town, and for the most part the people were amazing,” he says, noting that a driver earlier in the day had stopped to provide him a cold drink. “I’m not going to judge the place by one bad apple. For an out-of-town worker to come into a town and be treated that way, it’s pretty great.”
Even so, he hopes the driver is found soon and held to account for the collision — and particularly for leaving the scene.
When asked what he’d tell the driver if he was given the chance, Burak replies, “When you’re having a bad day like that, you have no right or business to take it out on other people… to drive the way you did, you do not deserve a license from this point on because you’re going to seriously hurt or kill somebody.”
Though police have not issued a public notice for assistance, Burak and his partner encourage anyone with dashcam footage or information about the collision to contact Grey Bruce OPP.
Owen Sound Current contacted Grey Bruce OPP for comment on August 14 and had not received a response by time of publication.
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