Over 4,000 auto accident fatalities have occurred in work zones over five years. The pandemic is making the zones even riskier.
Be Cautious in Colorado Construction Zones to Help Prevent Accidents
In September 2020, a driver crashed through two barricades in a construction zone in Weld County, Colorado. The speeding motorist admitted that he had not noticed the barriers because he had been looking at his cell phone.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, over 4,000 fatalities have occurred in work zone crashes in the past five years. In 2019, there were 596 work zone fatalities on Colorado highways, most of which occurred in summer.
Keeping Colorado Work Zones Safe
Construction projects are underway throughout Colorado. The projects involve I-25 South Gap, I-70 Mountain Corridor, C-470 Express Lanes, CO 119, I-70 Westbound Peak-Period Express Lane, North I-25, US 50 Purcell Interchange, and Central 70.
Colorado’s Central 70 project has had to cope with a slew of pandemic-related safety challenges. In response, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has issued the following guidelines:
- Crews should avoid entering trailers at the job site or project offices unless they must, and should never do so in groups.
- Daily safety briefings should be conducted with only several people at a time rather than with full teams.
- Paperwork should be filled out in the cab of pickup trucks, and daily logs of work activities should be completed at home or while workers are alone in an office.
- Meetings should be scaled back whenever possible, and any meetings involving more than a handful of people should be conducted by telephone.
- Crews should stay home from work if they feel ill, and anyone not feeling well at the worksite should be immediately sent home.
- Hand tools should be cleaned periodically, and all field workers should be required to wash their hands after removing their gloves.
- Portable restrooms should be sanitized more frequently.
- Steering wheels and machinery equipment controls should be routinely wiped down.
What to Do When You Drive Toward Work Zones
The CDOT is encouraging motorists to drive with care when traveling through work zones. It advises that you:
- Watch for signs. Obey all posted signs until you’ve left the work zone.
- Remain patient. The purpose of work zones is to improve the road, not to inconvenience you.
- Pay attention. Expect slower speed limits and changes in traffic lanes, and expect that people will be working on or near the roadway.
- Maintain a safe following distance. Never tailgate in a work zone, where the most common cause of auto accidents is a rear-end collision. Leave at least two car lengths between your vehicle and the one in front of you.
- Do what flaggers tell you. Flaggers have the same authority in a work zone as a posted sign, and you can receive a traffic citation for disobeying their instructions.
- Remain alert. Put your cell phone away so that you are not unnecessarily distracted while driving through the work zone.
- Go with the flow. Maintain traffic flow by merging as soon as possible. Don’t wait until the lane is closed and then cut in front of other drivers.
- Plan ahead. Check radio, television, and online sources for traffic information. If work is being done on streets that you regularly drive on, leave early enough to deal with any possible delays and still get where you’re going on time.
Have you or a loved one sustained serious injuries in an accident in a Colorado work zone? Contact Colorado personal injury attorney Dan Rosen at (303) 454-8000 or (800) ROSEN-911 to schedule your free initial consultation to discuss the details of your case.