5 April 2019
With the new construction season underway, a national campaign reminds people to practice safe driving in work zones.
National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) kicks off on April 8.
This year’s theme is “Drive Like You Work Here.” It brings awareness to the dangerous conditions that work zone workers face on the job.
NWZAW was first conceived in 1997 by the Virginia Department of Transportation. However, the first formal event was held in 2000 in Virginia.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida had the nation’s second-highest number of fatal work zone crashes in 2016. The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, which tracks both national and state statistics, says that 132 workers died in 2017. Sixteen of those workers died in Florida.
In 2017, Hillsborough County had 3,210 total crashes related to work zones. Sixteen of those crashes involved fatalities. Pinellas had 1,631 work zone crashes and eight fatalities.
“If there are workers present,” Florida Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer, Sergeant Steve Gaskins said. “There are people that are working just inches or feet away from passing traffic.”
Gaskins has been with the Florida Highway Patrol for 23 years. He recalled an accident where a driver lost control and slammed into a construction company vehicle. The man hanging off the back of the vehicle was picking up cones from the roadway. That man died at the scene.
To keep workers and you safe, FDOT has compiled some things to remember when driving through road construction.
First, watch for vehicles entering and leaving roadways. This can include bulldozers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment. They often drive slowly, so keep your distance.
Next, be aware of your surroundings. Watch out for workers, and obey any cautionary signage and speed limit changes. Even if the work zone is unmanned at the time, uneven lanes and lane shifts can still pose problems for drivers.
Reduce your speed in work zones. However, don’t slam on the brakes. Give drivers behind you enough warning that you’re slowing down. Rear-endings are the most common vehicular crashes in work zones.
Finally, avoid distractions. Things can change quickly and unexpectedly on the roadway. Put your phone down and don’t drive impaired.
“You really need to be on your P’s and Q’s watching to see what happens,” Gaskins said. “There’s a lot of moving parts in a construction zone.”
Gaskins said that the Florida Highway Patrol or local law enforcement often places a trooper inside work zones to increase security and control traffic.
“You’ll see the patrol car just sitting inside the lane closure with the blue lights flashing to help give further warning to passing motorists to reduce their speed,” Gaskins said. “To keep people on point, on task, on target when they’re passing through.”
All the same traffic penalties apply in work zones. However, in Florida, the presence of workers increases speeding penalties. While Florida only increases the fines for speeding, some states increase penalties for all moving violations in a work zone.
You can find a list of the Bay Area’s current roadway projects on FDOT’s website for the Tampa Bay area. For more information about NWZAW, visit http://www.nwzaw.org/
Written by Alexa Ignacio
Edited by: Rebecca Lee
