The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is joining the Federal Highway Administration in observing the 2006 National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), April 3-9.
This year’s NWZAW theme, “Working at the Speed of Night” will focus on the dangers associated with night work zones.
“SCDOT urges motorists to drive with caution through work zones, especially during nighttime hours when visibility is decreased,” SCDOT Executive Director Elizabeth S. Mabry said. “Day and night, our employees and contractors are working to improve South Carolina’s transportation system. Please allow them to do their jobs safely so they can go home to their families at the end of the day.”
“We partnered with SCDOT to implement its first nighttime construction policy in 1999,” said Bob Lee, Federal Highway Administration Division Administrator. “While this has reduced daytime delays, it also adds risk for contractors and inspectors working at night. Please slow down in work zones.”
National Work Zone Awareness Week is a national campaign that helps increase public awareness of work zone safety. It also brings to the attention of the motoring public and the media the fact that nearly 1,100 men, women and children are killed senselessly in work zones each year across the United States.
“As we are entering daylight savings time, more outdoor activities are held later in the day and traveling after dark increases,” SCDOT Safety Director Terecia Wilson said. “Motorists traveling through work zones, especially at night, need to be ready for the unexpected. Traffic lanes may be shifted in work zones, so it’s important for motorists to pay attention to signs and road crew flaggers.”
In 2005, SCDOT coordinated an intensive effort to improve work zone safety. The “High Visibility Work Zone Safety Enforcement Campaign” included the use of television, newspapers, billboards, and other media to let the public know of strict enforcement of traffic safety laws in work zones.
Between April and October 2005, participating law enforcement agencies and members of the Highway Patrol issued 17,307 tickets in highway work zones during four “work zone blitzes.” Of these citations, 11,283 were for speeding; 79 were for DUI; 125 were for failure to yield the right of way; 177 were for following too closely; and 5,643 were for other violations.
A comparison of preliminary work zone collision data for the period of April – October 2005 with April – October 2004 indicates a 35% reduction in work zone fatalities (from 17 to 11); a 32% reduction in work zone injuries (from 530 to 362); and a 22% reduction in work zone crashes (from 1,227 to 958). The economic savings resulting from these reductions totals more than $11 million.
SCDOT’s High Visibility Enforcement Campaign also won a national award through a competition sponsored by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the National Safety Council. The competition was the fifth annual Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Awards. The competition recognizes outstanding efforts to help reduce roadway work zone construction collisions, injuries, and fatalities.
The Executive Director of SCDOT is Elizabeth S. Mabry. The SCDOT Commission includes Chairman Tee Hooper of Greenville; Bob Harrell Sr., 1st Congressional District; John N. Hardee, 2nd Congressional District; Marion P. Carnell, 3rd Congressional District; F. Hugh Atkins, 4th Congressional District; Bobby T. Jones, 5th Congressional District; and John M. "Moot" Truluck, 6th Congressional District.
Contact: Terecia Wilson, Director of Safety, SCDOT
(803) 737-1161
Note: Ms. Wilson can provide media with locations of local work zones for photographs and filming purposes.
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