National Work Zone Awareness Week - April 4-10, 2004
12 Months of Safety Campaign Targets Work Zone Safety and Inattentive Drivers;
State Employs New Tactics to Ensure Safety
12 Months of Safety Campaign Targets Work Zone Safety and Inattentive Drivers;
State Employs New Tactics to Ensure Safety
When many of us go to work, the
most hazardous thing that might happen is that we get a paper cut or drop a
file on a toe. Most of us don’t risk our lives at work each day. But how
would that change if when you sharpened your pencil
or got a drink at the water cooler, a tractor trailer blew by at 60+
mph just a few feet away? Do you think your heart might race a bit? In the
fourth month of the “12 Months of Safety” initiative, the Maryland
Department of Transportation, along with the Maryland State Police (MSP), is
highlighting work zone safety and inattentive driving.
“Imagine what it would be like if your office or desk were just several feet from a lane of traffic with cars and trucks speeding by at 60 miles per hour,” said Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan. “That is the environment our highway construction crews work in every day. Work zones are unforgiving places for both construction workers and motorists. In fact, four out of five people killed in work zones are not workers – but motorists or passengers. Everyone must focus on safety and motorists must stay alert and slow down when passing through a work zone. Lives are at stake.”
In Maryland, traffic fatalities out number murders by 159 – with 661 traffic deaths in 2002. Additionally, fatalities within work zones more than doubled in the last few years, increasing from seven in 2001 to 17 in 2002. The number of those injured has also increased.
“Imagine what it would be like if your office or desk were just several feet from a lane of traffic with cars and trucks speeding by at 60 miles per hour,” said Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan. “That is the environment our highway construction crews work in every day. Work zones are unforgiving places for both construction workers and motorists. In fact, four out of five people killed in work zones are not workers – but motorists or passengers. Everyone must focus on safety and motorists must stay alert and slow down when passing through a work zone. Lives are at stake.”
In Maryland, traffic fatalities out number murders by 159 – with 661 traffic deaths in 2002. Additionally, fatalities within work zones more than doubled in the last few years, increasing from seven in 2001 to 17 in 2002. The number of those injured has also increased.
For more information on Work Zone Safety, “Just Drive” and the “12 Months of
Safety” campaigns, log onto SHA’s web site at
www.marylandroads.com. For
event information on National Work Zone Awareness Week go to
www.atssa.com.
4 out of 5
lives lost in a highway work zone
annually are motorists
annually are motorists
Don't add to the numbers - Stay Alert
and Obey the Speed Limit
You, your
life and the hazards posed by traffic
- Your life, and the quality off it, should be the most important things to you. You need to use common sense to stay alive and healthy
- Traffic can be very hazardous to your health
- Keep your body and vehicle(s) as far away from the hazards of traffic as possible
- Make sure that you, your actions, and/or your vehicle(s) don’t cause either primary or secondary crashes. Crashes in traffic back-ups result in18% to 37% fatalities
- Wear the proper, highly visible, safety equipment and garments ANYTIME you’re near traffic. It SHALL be retrorelective during periods of darkness, and may also help during daylight
- Make sure your Traffic Control Devices (TCD’s) and vehicles are in good shape. They should be clean, bright, and highly visible at all times. Also, they SHALL be retroreflective during periods of darkness. Vehicles should have clean, bright high-conspicuity tape on them. Use all vehicle-warnings lights, including 4-way flashers, sensibly, to warn oncoming traffic, from all directions, to use caution when approaching. Make sure that NONE of your vehicle lights are blinding traffic blinding traffic approaching from ANY direction, especially at night
- Improper placement of your vehicle could cost you your life. Figure a “roll-ahead” distance between you and your vehicle. For high-speed highways (when the majority of traffic is traveling over 40 MPH), the roll-ahead distance is about 175 to 200 feet between you vehicle and where you’re working
- Nighttime work has advantages and disadvantages involved with it. The advantage to nighttime work is that there is less traffic volume that could harm you. The disadvantages are that neither you, nor the motorists, can see as well as during daylight, and there is a higher percentage of drivers that are tired, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or all of these
- Make sure ANY lighting used in your work area, such as light plants, to see where you’re working, and vehicle lights especially headlights, are aimed away from traffic that could be approaching your work area from ALL directions. Also, make sure the brightness of lights, like vehicle strobe lights and Arrow Panels (AP’s) is not too bright, which may blind a driver
- If you see a potential safety hazard in MD, call the Maryland State Highway Administrator’s (SHA) Statewide Operations Center (SOC), 24 hours a day, 3651/4 days a year, at 410.582.5650 or 1.800.543.2515. If there’s a real emergency, dial 911 or #77 on a cell phone
Safety Council of Maryland
17 Governor's Court
Baltimore, MD 21244
800-875-4770
Fax: 410-281-1350
E-mail:
safety@safemd.org
www.safemd.org