Robert Taylor, a 55-year-old Charlotte sanitation worker, died after he was injured in a car crash around noon on Monday. Authorities said Taylor was working on his collection route when was fatally hit.
His wife, Tammy Taylor, described him as a diligent provider who never missed the chance to work extra days and helped raised her three children as well as his own daughter and several grandchildren.
“He loved that job,” she said. “He would not call out, wouldn’t miss a day.”On the day he died, Taylor and another garbage collector were both emptying trash into the back of the disposal truck on Albemarle Road, between Harrisburg Road and Wilgrove Mint Hill Road, in east Charlotte, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Both sanitation employees were wearing reflective clothing and had the required hazard lights activated, police officials said in a statement Tuesday. The driver, Eugene Banks, has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, according to CMPD.
Colleagues of Taylor described him as devoted to his job as a sanitation worker and garbage truck driver with a “superstar” work ethic. James Barber Jr., a safety team leader at the Charlotte Solid Waste Services, said that Taylor was the first person he met when he started at the department in 2007.“He showed me the map on how to be a professional and how to go about my business. Go to work every day. Do your job. Do it right,” he said.