(April 2, 2014) – In coordination with National Work Zone Awareness Week partners across the country, Maryland is observing April as Work Zone Safety Awareness Month.  Maryland’s theme “Safer Driving. Safer Work Zones. For Everyone.”  underscores the important role that drivers play in work zones.

Today, Maryland work zone safety advocate Mrs. Laurie Moser joined Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Executive Director Bruce W. Gartner, State Highway Administrator Melinda B. Peters and representatives from Maryland State Police and Maryland Transportation Authority Police at the I-95 Improvement Project – an investment of $1.08 billion.  Together, a plea was issued to Maryland drivers: slow down and stay alert in work zones. Mrs. Moser knows all too well the dangers of work zones – in 2007 an errant driver struck and killed her husband, Rick Moser, a 21-year veteran of the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA).

"Everyone - workers and drivers alike - are threatened by speeding and inattentive drivers, particularly in construction work zones where there is little margin for error,” says MDTA Executive Director Bruce W. Gartner.  “With the start of construction season, we urge drivers moving through work zones to slow down, be alert and be patient. Your life, and the lives of others, depends on it."

Maryland lost five highway workers in traffic crashes in the last 15 months in incidents caused by errant drivers.  Overall in 2013, eight people lost their lives in Maryland work zone crashes, including four highway workers.  Over the last five years, there were more than 8,350 work zone related crashes in Maryland, which resulted in the injury of more than 4,000 people.

This year’s awareness effort introduces the “Go Orange” pilot, in which SHA and partners will  place orange lights, ribbons or banners on buildings and vehicles during National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 7-11) as a gesture of support for work zone safety.  Additionally overhead message signs will share the message.

 

 

 

“These are messages that bear repeating over and over until it sinks into everyone’s consciousness,” says SHA Administrator Peters. “Driving is a privilege and serious business, and our responsibility is to drive as if our lives depend on it – and they do!”

 

“To honor Rick’s memory and bring purpose to his untimely death, our family has chosen to spotlight his tombstone in orange to allow his voice to be heard, his story to be told, and his unnecessary death to positively impact the lives of others,” said Laurie Moser.  “I ask Maryland drivers to join us in “going orange” throughout April and encourage others to do so as well. As a result of this collective action road safety awareness and education will escalate, and ultimately, lives will be saved!”

Maryland is a partner in National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, observed and organized each April by the Federal Highway Administration, American Traffic Safety Service Association (ATSSA), the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) together with Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Over the past five years in Maryland, there have been more than 8,350 crashes, which injured 4,060.  Twenty-eight people were killed. Nationally, more than 700 people are killed each year in work zone crashes – the majority of them drivers or passengers traveling the roadways.

As part of Maryland’s effort to reduce work zone crashes this year, law enforcement will continue to use the SafeZones automated speed camera program to fine drivers exceeding the speed limit by 12 or more miles per hour in work zones.  The technology raises driver awareness and plays an important role in positively influencing driving behavior in construction zones.

Since law enforcement began using speed cameras in highway construction areas, speeding violations in SafeZones construction sites have decreased by approximately 80 percent. When the program began, approximately seven out of every 100 drivers in the SafeZones construction areas were exceeding the speed limit by 12 mph or more; today, fewer than two drivers out of every 100 are exceeding that limit.

Hundreds of state employees, contractors and sub-contractors will be in work zones this season, delivering projects ranging from paving, bridge rehabilitation and regular maintenance as well as major roadway projects such as the Intercounty Connector.  While SHA and its transportation partners work hard to maintain safe traffic mobility in work zones, each driver needs to actively modify his or her driving style to help prevent crashes.

Social media, web banners, radio public service announcements, an e-brochure “Road Ready” and other education efforts will remind Maryland motorists of the work zone safety message.  Another tool Maryland driver have available this year is 511 – Know before you go!  Call 511 or log onto www.md511.org for live traffic updates, including roadway construction delays and lane closures.

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