With the beginning of another season of highway construction fast approaching, transportation agencies and others across the country are busy planning events in April to observe National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 6-12). Since the program’s inception in 1999, a week has been set aside each year in April to focus on the growing number of fatalities and injuries that occur each year in roadway work zones.
In 2001 (the latest year for which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has statistics on work-zone injuries and fatalities) over 1,000 people were reported killed in work-zone-related crashes. Surprisingly, the majority of those killed in work zones were motorists not workers.
The Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials, the American Traffic Safety Services Association and numerous other roadway safety and construction groups will participate in National Work Zone Awareness Week activities on Tuesday, April 8, from 10 to 11 a.m. at "Freedom Plaza" in Washington, D.C. The hour-long media event is open to the public.
