After all, work zones are there because road conditions are being improved or roads are being expanded or modified to create better, faster or more convenient transportation routes for everyone.
The added seconds or minutes that may result when we ask you to slow down through a work zone represent a very small "price" to pay for years of safer driving and less congestion.
It's also worth remembering that the signs and other directions through work zones are intended to get you, your family and other drivers home, to work and other destinations as quickly and safely as possible.
The Numbers in Washington:
- Total miles of State Highway: 7,044
- Work Zone Deaths from January 2000 - March 2008 : 54
- Work Zone Injuries from January 2000 - March 2008: 5,536*
- Number of Work Zone Incidents involving Alcohol from January 2000 - March 2008: 615
*The 99 Percent Risk to You and Your Family
An overwhelming majority - close to 99 percent - of people injured or killed in work zone collisions are drivers and passengers. Pedestrians, flaggers and roadway workers account for only 1 percent of these injuries or fatalities.
Most deaths and injuries in work zones are caused by rear-end collisions. Many occur before the construction work zone begins, where lanes close and cars merge. Drivers cutting in at the last minute cause sudden stops. Inattentive drivers going too fast are not ready for traffic to slow or stop.
Research shows that drivers typically don’t think they are at risk in work zones or that their unsafe driving causes most of the crashes.
So slow down, pay attention, help protect the worker and yourself.
The most likely time for a work zone accident: daylight, clear or cloudy, on a Wednesday in August.
Workers most at risk: traffic flaggers.
Top three types of collisions: rear-enders, striking a fixed object, sideswiping.
The two major reasons for work zone crashes: speeding and inattentive driving.
Four out of five drivers in a recent survey said they slowed down when they entered work zones. However, radar speeds showed none of them actually did.
It takes less than a minute more to travel through a two-mile long work zone at 45 m.p.h. than at 65 m.ph. - 52 seconds, to be precise.
At 60 m.p.h., a vehicle travels 88 feet per second. In the 3/4 second it takes to put your foot on the brake, you've gone 66 feet and will travel another 180-220 feet before the car stops. In other words, if you speed, by the time you see a problem, you're probably out of luck!
Double Fine Law
Traffic fines double in work zones. These fines cannot be reduced, suspended or waived. People driving negligently in work zones, or who remove, evade or purposely strike safety devices can be found guilty of "endangerment of roadway workers," punished as a gross misdemeanor and a license suspension of 60 days. You can read about these laws in their entirety:
Prevention Measures
The WSDOT Work Zone Safety Task Force is dedicated to the prevention of work zone related injuries and fatalities. Established in August of 1993, the Task Force was created to examine work zone safety on our highways as a result of continued concern for the safety of employees and the public. Members of the Work Zone Safety Task Force include WSDOT, WSP and representatives from the construction industry.
The task force has been instrumental in many positive changes including increased safety training, better reflective gear for workers, intensified public education and outreach though the Give 'em a Brake campaign, and partnering with Washington State Patrol whose presence in work zones has greatly increased safety.
Other on-going efforts within WSDOT include the education of new drivers through a tool kit for driver trainers distributed to high schools and private education classes. The tool kit contains safe driving principles and practices including an interactive driving program and a DVD "Some Decisions Last a Lifetime", showing young drivers the real impact of their driving actions on human lives, especially their own.
Various regional offices within WSDOT have taken the outreach one step further by actually having staff go into classes and frankly discuss with students what it's like to work in a work zone, and also how it feels to lose a co-worker in an incident.
More Resources
Work Zone Survival Tips for the Motorist
- Slow down, pay attention, and stay calm. Work zones aren't there to personally inconvenience you. They're there to improve the roads for everyone.
- Merge as soon as possible. Motorists can help maintain traffic flow and posted speeds by moving to the appropriate lane at first notice of an approaching work zone.
- Try an alternate route.
- Expect delays, plan for them and leave early to reach your destination on time.
- Some work zones, like line painting, road patching, and mowing are mobile. Just because you don't see the workers immediately after you see the warning signs doesn't mean they're not out there. Observe the posted signs until you see the one that says "END ROAD WORK".