The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported that 67 percent of highway contractors said motor vehicles had crashed into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study. In response, association officials have launched a new radio and media campaign urging drivers to slow down and remain alert in highway work zones.
Brian Turmail, the association’s national spokesman, said that 70 percent of contractors reported work zone crashes on projects in which motor vehicle operators or passengers were injured. Additionally, 28 percent of those crashes involved a driver or passenger fatality. Twenty-eight percent of work zone crashes injure workers, and 8 percent kill them.
“There are simply too many cars crashing into too many work zones, putting too many lives at risk,” said Brian Turmail, the association’s national spokesman. “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.”
Association officials will be talking to radio stations around the country as part of the effort, detailing what drivers should do while passing through construction sites. They will also work with construction equipment and tech firms to develop systems to better alert workers when vehicles come too close to job sites.
Source: AGC
