SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – 12/02/16 – It was a brush with death for a South Burlington postal worker. So why won’t the driver who hit him face charges? In Vermont, being distracted by something other than an electronic device like your cellphone is not illegal, even if you hit someone. For a beloved Chittenden County letter carrier, one inattentive driver might have prematurely ended the man’s career with the U.S. Postal Service.

He’s worked for the Postal Service for nearly a decade. Now, his career is on hold and his ability to walk in question after leg-crushing injuries on the job.

“This is the lucky leg. This just got three screws,” said Steve Erdmann.

Erdmann is recovering in the hospital two weeks after luck saved his life. The letter carrier was standing behind his postal truck sorting mail when a driver slammed into him, pinning him between her bumper and his truck.

Erdmann says had he been bending down, he would have been killed.

“I feel very lucky in the sense that I’m still around,” said Erdmann.

South Burlington police say the 27-year-old driver told them she never saw the postal worker, although he was parked legally. She allegedly took her eyes off the road to talk to her fiance who was sitting in the passenger seat. He screamed “Stop,” but it was too late. More