a national association has taken the wheel to educate and emphasize safety. Photo: iStock.com/SteveDF
In many regions of the United States, specifically the northern half, it’s often said there are two seasons: winter and construction.
And when the sun is shining brightest is when the roadbuilding industry is featured most prominently. Whether on your daily commute or on a road trip, it is commonplace to pass through one, if not numerous, highway construction zones and projects.
Unfortunately, what has also become all too common is motor vehicle accidents in these zones, some of which contain portable plants. According to a study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA), 67 percent of highway contractors report that motor vehicles had crashed into their construction work zones during the past year alone.
“There are simply too many cars crashing into too many work zones, putting too many lives at risk,” says Brian Turmail, national spokesman for AGCA. “That is why we are launching a nationwide outreach effort designed to better educate motorists about the need to drive with care in highway work zones.”
Educating motorists
AGCA launched radio and social media campaigns to educate the public and improve safety for both drivers and highway work zone workers alike. These efforts include association officials talking to radio stations across the country to emphasize best practices while passing through construction sites, as well as social media messages urging drivers to be more careful and alert in these work zone areas.
“We’ve never done much to educate the driving public that these are dangerous places,” Turmail says. “I don’t know what it is about being in a car, but a common sense of decency goes away when you’re shielded by a large steel object.”
Turmail compared the stigmas around seat belt safety or driving under the influence to the lack of attention paid by drivers to speeding in construction work zones.
“From a highway traffic safety point of view, we’ve done a really good job where most people drive with a seat belt,” Turmail says. “Everyone [also] understands it’s stupid to drink and drive. But almost no one has any sense of how dangerous it is to speed or be distracted in a highway work zone, and there’s no sense of collective shame.”
AGCA officials note that 73 percent of contractors report that the risk of highway work zone crashes is greater now than it was a decade ago.
Furthermore, 70 percent of contractors reported work zone crashes in which drivers or passengers were injured, and 28 percent of those work zone crashes involved a driver or passenger fatality.
The reasons for this are manifold, according to Turmail.
“One issue is we have an aging highway network, and there’s a lot more highway activity going on to maintain infrastructure,” Turmail says. “As traffic has gotten worse, a lot of state Departments of Transportation (DOT) have shifted road work to evenings. There are really only two types of drivers on the road then: people too tired or too intoxicated to be on the road.”
Smart safety
In tandem with radio and social media messages, AGCA is exploring technological solutions to mitigate or prevent work zone crashes. The association is partnering with construction equipment and technology firms to develop systems to better alert workers when vehicles come too close to jobsites.
“[Technology like] laser perimeters can set around your work zone, and if anything encroaches around the work zone, everyone’s vest vibrates and makes noise to alert them to get out of the work zone,” Turmail says.
While technology can play a vital role in preventing accidents, it, conversely, is a key reason for the increase in motorists causing highway work zone crashes.
“There’s no doubt about the proliferation of distractions for drivers – cell phones, Apple car play – you’re touching your screen, changing your music and you’re watching things other than the speedometer and fuel gauge in front of you,” Turmail says.
Simple solutions
AGCA provides social media and digital advertising materials to each of its chapters to support their safety education campaigns. In addition, AGCA chapters continue to work with local and state police and state DOTs to ensure necessary highway work zone protections are in place.
“A positive trend is the growth in states putting speeding cameras in construction work zones,” Turmail says. “With apps like Waze, everyone sees speed cameras ahead and they slow down. Police cars, even if they’re empty, are in those work zones and people slow down. A lot of state DOTs have great public education campaigns. We’re just a far way away from normalizing the expectation that people slow down in work zones.”
According to Turmail, AGCA also plans to reach out to groups that write and conduct tests for the American Association of Motor Vehicles Administrators.
While the association continues to work with state DOTs to educate the driving public, Turmail offers a few seemingly simple yet often overlooked best practices.
“When you see construction signs and orange barrels, obey the posted speed limit, keep your eyes on the road and get off the phone,” Turmail says. “No amount of saved time, and certainly no social media post or text, is worth the safety to you, your passengers or the men and women working on our roads.”