National Work Zone Awareness Week Focuses on Motorist Behavior

"Work Zone Speeding: A Costly Mistake" is the theme of this year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 7–11), which is intended to highlight the dangers to construction workers and motorists when highway improvement projects are underway. AGC participated in the national event, held in Seattle, Wash. on Tuesday, April 8, hosted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, with participation from the Federal Highway Administration, AASHTO, and other national construction associations.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 609 people died in highway work-zone crashes in 2012, an increase of 19 fatalities over the previous year. Nearly four in five victims in work zone crashes in 2012 were drivers or passengers. The statistics also show that in 35 percent of all fatal work zone crashes speeding was a factor and 25 percent of the fatal crashes involved heavy duty trucks. Many AGC chapters annually cooperate with their state DOTs to hold Work Zone Awareness campaign events this week and throughout the next several months. The National Work Zone Awareness Week campaign began in 1999 to reduce fatalities and promote safer driving practices. The focus of this year’s campaign is educating motorists about why they need to slow down and pay attention in highway work zones. State transportation departments continue to work closely with the Federal Highway Administration, AGC chapters and other industry groups to promote increased law enforcement near work zones, improvements in work zone planning and design, enhanced worker training and heightened awareness among drivers. For more information, please contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.