Drive with care in VDOT work zones

Quintin D. Elliott / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: April 1, 2008

When you're on the highway, one glance at the kids in the backseat, a grab at the cell phone, or even changing the radio, could cost a life - possibly your own.

Every seven hours someone in the U.S. is killed in a work zone. Last year in Virginia, crashes in state maintained highway work zones killed 11 people. 

Highway work continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations in America. Every year in the U.S., more highway workers are killed than police and firefighters combined. 

Road projects in our area, such as the widening of Bus. 15/29 just north of the town of Culpeper, put workers in harm's way for the sake of improving travel for the rest of us. It only takes one inattentive driver to change someone's life forever.

The Virginia Department of Transportation wants to protect you and our highway work crews.

This year we will participate in the annual observation of Work Zone Awareness Week in conjunction with National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 7-11.

This year's theme is "Slow for the cone zone."

Motorists often forget that it is everyone's job to keep work zones safe. 

Statistics show that mo-torists - many of them 20- to 29-year-old males - are four times more likely than workers to be killed in work zone crashes. 

These three steps can mean the difference between life and death:

-When you see the orange signs, be alert for changing conditions ahead.

-Slow down and expect the unexpected. Pay attention to your surroundings. You may encounter lane shifts, construction vehicles entering and leaving the roadway, or changed speed limits.

-Minimize distractions! Avoid changing radio stations and using mobile phones while driving in a work zone.

We will do our part to keep Virginia moving, but we need  you to "Give us a brake" and go "Slow in the cone zone."

To learn more about how you can keep yourself and highway workers safe in work zones, visit VirginiaDOT.org.

Quintin D. Elliott is the Culpeper acting district administrator for VDOT.