Work Zone Safety Week Begins Monday

Work Zone Safety should be common sense for motorists. Orange barrels and cones, flashing orange lights, flashing blue lights on a law enforcement vehicle, uneven or redirected lanes and the presence of heavy equipment and workers should be a dead giveaway that you are approaching a hazardous area. Unfortunately, they are not for many motorists.

Monday begins "Work Zone Safety Week" and in recognition of this national campaign, Gov. Kay Ivey has issued a proclamation encouraging drivers to obey all work zone safety laws and precautions. It is an effort to remind us there are things we can do as drivers that can save lives, reduce injuries, and make highway work safer.

The theme for this year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week is “Respect the zone so we all get home.”

When approaching a work zone, drivers should slow down, be aware of their surroundings, and follow all posted signs and instructions. This includes reducing speed to the posted limit, watching for workers and equipment, not being distracted by radio or cellphones, and being prepared to merge lanes if necessary. Avoiding distractions like cell phones is also crucial.

The result of not practicing work zone safety was brought home just this week in West Virginia. 23-year-old James Harper, an employee of the West Virginia Turnpike was hit and killed while laying asphalt.

Court documents stated the dash-cam video from the truck showed it traveling through the work zone, very close to the cones, narrowly missing a roller machine before swerving and hitting Harper.

Over the years, thousands of men and women have died in work zones, including workers, motorists, pedestrians, law enforcement officers, paramedics, wrecker operators, firefighters, emergency managers and children.

In Alabama alone in 2022, the most recent year final statistics are available, there with 17 fatal work zone crashes, 19 fatalities from those crashes. Officials say the number of work zone fatalities have decreased in recent year, but only slightly.

A National Work Zone Memorial pays homage to the memory of a fraction of these lost lives.

Here is a Work Zone Safety Tip Sheet.

Work zone safety is up to us all.