The conference was one of several events that will be taking place throughout the state to promote work zone safety awareness.
Statistics show that work zones can be dangerous places for motorists and the men and women working in them if close attention isn’t paid to flaggers, signs, posted speeds, or other traffic control devices in the zones.
“People don’t pay attention. When we leave here, we need to tell our neighbors and everyone we come in contact with how important it is when we see orange signs and cones and flashing lights on the trucks to pay attention,” J.L. Bowen with Mountain Enterprises said. “The worse thing I had to do in my career was tell an 11-year-old girl that her mommy wasn’t coming home.”
Each year more than 40,000 people are injured in work zones, which means that there is one work zone fatality every 8.2 hours (three a day) or one work zone injury every nine minutes (160 a day) with six of those fatalities being in Kentucky in 2007.
David Fuson, the resident engineer in District 11, had an uncle who was killed in a work zone. “A lot of these accidents could be prevented if we would just pay attention to what we are doing when we are driving and realize that in a work zone anything can happen,” he said.
Neil Johnson, a Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement Officer in the area, was on hand to reiterate law enforcement’s role in work zone safety as well. He said that many work zone tragedies could have been prevented if motorists would have taken the precautions necessary such as obeying posted speeds and paying attention to lane changes while in work zones. He also reminded everyone that double fines are still in effect even if no workers are present.
“I have worked work zones from Boone County to Pikeville and I have seen many tragedies because motorists didn’t take the precautions necessary. I have seen several serious injuries and many fatalities that were needless,” Johnson said.
Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo shared his story about working as a flag man during the construction of Highway 80. He said that he would often think about which direction he would need to jump in case the driver of the car didn’t see him.
“Not only is it important to be on the lookout for work zones on the large highways, but it is just as important to be on the look out for work zones on the smaller roads,” he said. “We need to remember that work zones are in effect 24 hours a day if someone is there or not.”
H.B. Elkins the Public Information Officer for District 10 said that they chose the “triangle parking lot” as the location for the press conference because its backdrop will be an active work zone when the construction of what is called the Home Lumber bridge, that will connect Main Street to Town Mountain, begins in the next few weeks.
“We wanted to do this near a spot that will be a busy work zone in Hazard just to let people know how much traffic there is and to call attention to how important it is for the drivers to watch for flaggers, cones, signs, and other traffic control devices,” Elkins said.
Preparation for the bridge is already in progress as some utility relocation has already taken place and some buildings been torn down to make room for the bridge, which will be built near where there existing bridge is now. He says that it will also be a metal bridge, but it will be wider than the old one and they are expecting to keep the old bridge open with plans to maintain traffic through the area while the new bridge is being constructed. Elkins said that he expects construction to begin in about a month.
As part of National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, Governor Steve Beshear signed a proclamation recognizing April 7-11 as work zone safety week.
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