A 57-year-old man from Dearborn Heights died after becoming pinned beneath his own construction truck on Redding Road in Birmingham on Friday, when a malfunctioning lift axle he had stopped to inspect suddenly restarted and trapped him underneath. Birmingham police say they were called to the 800 block of Redding and found the man dead at the scene.
According to FOX 2 Detroit, the driver had experienced mechanical difficulties with one of the truck’s lift axles and pulled off onto the side of Redding Road to check on the malfunction. He was trapped under the truck when the system turned back on, according to the same report. The Detroit News reported that Birmingham police said the department was “deeply saddened by this tragic incident” and extended sympathies to the victim’s family.
Lift axles are the auxiliary wheel sets on heavy trucks that can be raised or lowered to adjust weight distribution, and when the hydraulic or pneumatic system that controls them re-engages unexpectedly, it can crush anyone working underneath. Police have not released the man’s name, employer or job title, and the circumstances of why the system restarted while he was inspecting it have not been detailed publicly.
Part of a Rising Statewide Toll
The Birmingham death adds to a string of Michigan workplace fatalities tied to heavy machinery this year. In June, a 22-year-old construction worker died in Grand Rapids after being pinned under the hydraulic arm of a trailer’s liftgate while unloading an excavator, according to CBS News Detroit. That same report noted that death and a separate firefighter fatality marked the state’s 18th and 19th workplace deaths of 2026, according to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration…