ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of
Transportation is observing National Work Zone Awareness Week April 9-13 to
encourage safe driving through highway work zones.
The week is an annual spring campaign to coincide with
the start of road construction season. MnDOT officially kicked off the
construction season April 4, although many construction projects started
earlier.
The theme for the week is “Work Zone Safety is
Everybody’s Responsibility,” reinforcing the
message that motorists and construction and maintenance workers should use
extra caution in work zones.
More than 250 active work zones are scheduled throughout
the state this construction season. A work zone is defined as any area where
highway construction, maintenance or utility work is being done. Work zones are
identified by warning signs, signals, barriers, pavement markings and flaggers.
Each year in the U.S., a work zone crash occurs once
every 5.4 minutes. Every day, 70 work zone crashes occur that result in at
least one injury. Every week, 12 work zone crashes occur that result in at
least one fatality.
In Minnesota in the past four years, an average of seven
people died in work zone crashes and more than 1,700 fatal or serious injury
crashes occurred each year.
“Drivers and passengers are more likely to be killed in
work zones than workers, but maintenance and construction crew workers have
also lost their lives, been injured or had close calls,” said Jay Hietpas,
Office of Traffic, Safety and Technology director. “Rear-end crashes are the
most common type of work zone crash. Most of these crashes occur because of
driver inattention and speeding, both behaviors we can change.”
Hietpas said MnDOT works to alert motorists in work zones
and sets speeds that are safe for navigating through it. He said when entering
work zones, motorists should obey the posted speed limits, pay attention to
signs and flaggers, be patient and not drive distracted.
“These work zones exist because we’re making roads better
and safer. We’re asking that people look for the work zones, slow down and put
down their cellphones and other distractions,” Hietpas said. “The 511mn.org
website is a good resource to check for road closures, detours and traffic
incidents.”
The National Work Zone Awareness Week observance is in
cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials, the Federal Highway Administration and the American Traffic Safety
Services Foundation.
