As construction season ramps up, the Connecticut Department of Transportation is joining departments of transportation across the country to raise awareness about bad driving habits in construction work zones during Work Zone Safety Week.
As construction season ramps up, the Connecticut Department of Transportation is joining departments of transportation across the country to raise awareness about bad driving habits in construction work zones. It is Work Zone Safety Week.
Poor driving habits in work zones are dangerous, unsafe, and in some cases have deadly consequences. On Wednesday, CT DOT encouraged people to wear orange to remind others to slow down so that everyone can remain safe.
"So we’re out there fixing bridges, fixing roads, making things better for the state of CT and we all want to go home safely at the end of our shift,” said Josh Morgan, Communications Director with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
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According to CT DOT, during a work zone safety speed camera program in 2023, more than 20,000 drivers were issued written warnings for speeding more than 15 mph or more in work zones across the state. Morgan explained speeding is more dangerous for workers than most people might imagine.
“People are driving 60, 70, 80, 90 miles an hour through our work zones. Our crews, our contractors, they feel that wind vortex,” he said.
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CT DOT reported 141 drivers crashing into DOT trucks in 2023 alone. Even with cones up, slowed speed limits, additional signs, and even large contraptions CT DOT has built to get people's attention like its character built out of cones and barrels named, Workzone Wally, Morgan said some people still don't pay attention.
"That’s our workers office. That’s where they work, day and night. It is incredibly dangerous. They are in harm’s way the longer they are on the road and we need people to understand that there are human’s behind the cones, behind the barrel's," Morgan added.
On Friday, CT DOT will hold a moment of silence to remember the lives of the 37 CT DOT employees and all those who have been killed in a work zone crash. Their names have been posted on a memorial poster at rest stops through the state, Morgan said.
