National Work Zone Awareness Week starts today

For obvious reasons, highway work zone safety is a serious subject here at ADOT…

The agency’s employees who build and maintain Arizona’s roadways are constantly aware of (and prepared for) any hazardous situation that might occur.

But, did you know that most people killed in highway work zones are drivers and their passengers? That’s why work zone safety needs to taken seriously by everyone.

To mark the start of National Work Zone Awareness week (April 23-27), we’re urging you to understand the life and death challenges associated with highway work zones.

“We don’t want to lose any of our ADOT family members who put their lives on the line to improve your highways,” said ADOT Director John Halikowski. “At the same time, national figures show more than 80 percent of people killed in work zones are drivers or their passengers. The prevention of such tragic crashes depends on drivers slowing down and paying attention in these areas.”

According to federal figures, 576 people were killed in highway work zones around the country in 2010, including 14 people here in Arizona.

More on the national push to make drivers more aware of work zone safety can be found at workzonesafety.org. If you visit the site, you’ll see this year’s awareness campaign is centered on the theme, “Don’t barrel through work zones.”

“It starts with the driver paying attention to the work zone ahead,” says ADOT State Engineer Jennifer Toth. “The signs, cones and reduced speed limits are all there to protect you, as well as our workers.”

More about work zone safety can be found on ADOT’s web site.