Hot Mix Asphalt Technology - March/April 2008 - (Page 45)

SPECIAL SAFETY SECTION Driving Through Work Zones: Be Careful! W By Bob Cullen Information Resource Manager, AASHTO ork-zone safety remains a high priority for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and its members. This priority is shared by other transportation officials and organizations like NAPA representing and supporting workers who regularly risk their lives along the nation’s roads. Work-zone safety also needs to be more fully embraced by the public as a vital concern. After all, as pointed out by AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley, four out of ﬁve people killed in workzone crashes are drivers and their passengers. “More than a thousand people are being killed in highway work zones each year,” notes Horsley. “Every one of these work-zone deaths is avoidable.” State DOTs and other government agencies, for their part, seek to decrease these deaths through various safety measures. These measures include such technologies as electronic signs that warn motorists as they approach work zones; training programs for road-based employees on precautions they can take; and stricter police enforcement in those areas. Drivers can and must have an equally important role in reducing potential deaths and injuries. This role, in keeping with the theme of the 2007 National Work Zone Safety Week promoted by AASHTO and its national partners in that effort, can be summarized with the following “Signs of Change”: • BE ALERT. Drivers need to pay careful attention when driving towards and through work zones. That means minimizing and even eliminating altogether such distractions as changing radio stations, handling a cell phone call, and conversing with passengers. • SLOW DOWN. Drivers must watch out for reduced-speed signs at and near work zones, and drive at the slower rate required. • STAY INFORMED. Drivers should plan ahead and stay as up to date as possible on highway construction and lane closures. That means building in extra time for travel and, if needed, being prepared to take an alternative route to their destination. In these ways and others, the public can do a lot to ensure greater safety for all within work zones. As Horsley explains, “We want to protect our workers, but considering that speeding and driver inattention are the most oftencited causes of work-zone wrecks, the people with the most at stake have it in their power to save their own lives.” HMAT Related information can be found at the Texas DOT Web site on work zone safety at www.dot.state.tx.us/services/trafﬁc_operations/work_zones.htm. Hot Mix Asphalt Technology – MARCH/APRIL 2008 • 45 http://www.dot.state.tx.us/services/traffic_operations/work_zones.htm http://www.dot.state.tx.us/services/traffic_operations/work_zones.htm

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hot Mix Asphalt Technology - March/April 2008

Hot Mix Asphalt Technology - March/April 2008 Contents Chairman’s Commentary Industry News Top-notch Teams Overcome Obstacles to Build the Nation’s Finest Roads Ecological Award Winners: Environmentally Sound, Neighbor Friendly Safety Award Winners: Rewards, Reminders and Technology Roadway Safety Program Trains Workers Preventing Back-overs Is Serious Business Driving Through Work Zones: Be Careful! San Diego Uses Porous Asphalt Lots for Stormwater Management Legislative Messages Tools for the Trade Calendar of Events Index of Advertisers Advertiser.com NAPA Roadmap to CONEXPO-CON/AGG

Hot Mix Asphalt Technology - March/April 2008

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