KDOT, KHP urge caution in work zones

The Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Highway Patrol are reminding area motorists to practice safety when driving through work zones.

In the last 10 years, more than 130 people have been killed and more than 6,100 people have been injured in Kansas work zones, which can be dangerous places for both road workers and motorists, according to KDOT.

"I can tell you from my own personal experience there is no worse feeling than learning one of our fellow Kansas Department of Transportation employees has been hurt or killed within a work zone," KDOT Assistant Secretary Jerry Younger said. "We need to work together to improve safety and reduce these tragedies."

KHP Technical Trooper Rick Wingate, the public resource officer for the patrol's Troop H which is headquartered in Chanute, said the infractions he sees occurring most often from motorists traveling through work zones are speeding and failure to move their vehicles over to accommodate work crews. Both of these violations can possibly result in accidents, Wingate said.

"These are two of the biggest problems we have, and number one is speed," he said. "We're trying to make motorists aware that they need to slow down in work zones, and they are required to move left anytime in work zones ... a common occurrence is they are going too fast and they don't move left. And the law applies no matter where you are at."

KDOT, KHP, and other sponsors of National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, which continues through Friday, are focusing on an effort to educate the public on the hazards that can be encountered in work zones and ways to increase safety for highway workers and the traveling public.

"Work zone safety is a high priority for the Kansas Highway Patrol," KHP Superintendent Col. Terry Maple said. "We are out there enforcing traffic laws to protect those working in and traveling through highway work areas."

Wingate added that road and highway construction workers are typically working in the lane of travel with shovels and other tools and usually have very little protection from oncoming vehicles, so motorists should be especially cautious in work zones.

"If people don't watch those signs and obey the rules, then we are forced to take action because we don't want them or the workers injured or killed," Wingate said.

According to KDOT statistics, of the nearly 1,300 crashes that took place last year in Kansas work zones:

* There were no adverse weather conditions in 84 percent of the crashes.

* The crashes happened during daylight hours 73 percent of the time.

* The top contributing circumstances were driver-related in 83 percent of all the crashes, with the main cause being inattention. Other causes included failure to yield, following other vehicles too closely, and driving too fast for conditions.

KDOT has created a video titled "Behind the Vest" featuring several employees who have had close calls and Shirley McDonald, whose son, KDOT employee Scotty McDonald, was killed while working in a work zone. The video can be accessed on KDOT's Web site at http://www.ksdot.org/bureaus/burcompser/podcast.asp.

KDOT is also continuing its participation in the national "Give 'Em A Brake" campaign, which focuses on improving work zone safety. Part of this campaign is a joint effort between KDOT and KHP to increase enforcement in selected work zones. The program was expanded last year to include chosen short-term construction and maintenance projects.

Other tips that KDOT recommends for motorists to remember when driving in work zones include:

* Pay attention to signs and obey road crew flaggers.

* Don't tailgate and don't speed.

* Expect the unexpected.

* Stay alert.

* Be patient.