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July 30, 2005 She’s not asking for much. She just wants us to slow it down when we drive through highway construction work zones. On May 20, JeanMarie’s son, Jonathan, was one of three construction workers killed on Interstate 81 outside Binghamton, New York. A tour bus carrying a choral group from a Missouri bible college caused a chain-reaction wreck in the zone Mr. Randall was working in. Speed has been tabbed as the primary factor in that tragedy. Between 1999 and 2003, there were 5,101 traffic fatalities in highway work zones, according to a report by the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). Excessive speed was responsible for many of those crashes. As the result of the Interstate 81 crash, New York governor George Pataki recently signed into law the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005. Supplementing safety measures already implemented by the various transit authorities in the state, the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005 prescribes stiffer fines for speeders, allows for more police officers to patrol work zones to catch speeders, and earmarks funds to go to work zone safety education and training. Many states have programs in place to educate drivers on work zone safety and protect construction workers. In Virginia, for example, commonwealth transportation employees and members of private businesses do presentations at high schools to remind young, inexperienced drivers about the dangers of work zones. California has begun, in the last few years, using mobile barriers to protect construction workers on foot in certain areas. And in South Carolina, signs have been posted in work zones with pictures of children on them, reminding drivers that someone’s mother or father is at work. Driving the posted speed limit is just one thing we need to do when traveling through a highway work zone. ATSSA, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) also recommend that we follow these steps: 1) Stay alert to activity in the work zone. Equipment, trucks and workers are operating in close proximity to open travel lanes, often within just inches of traffic. Be aware of where the action is. 2) Be aware of instructional signs in the work zone. Signs give vital information that we need to get through the zone safely. 3) Refrain from doing distracting tasks, like changing the radio or talking on the cell phone. Taking our eyes off the road for even a split second can lead to catastrophe in a work zone. 3) Maintain a safe distance between your car and the car in front of you. This provides a margin of safety for everyone involved in any driving situation, but especially in a work zone, where there typically is little room for emergency maneuvers. 4) Beware of work zones where passing is not allowed. A solid white line means that traffic must maintain its position in its lane of travel. This is especially true where narrow lanes preclude safe opportunities to pass. 5) Burn our headlights while we travel. Many new cars today are equipped with daytime running lights, which have helped improve visibility of oncoming cars and reduced accidents. Doing this in an older vehicle is a good idea, too, so long as we remember to turn our lights off whenever we leave the vehicle. 6) Keep up with the flow of traffic. Driving too slowly—or worse, driving scared—is just as dangerous as driving too fast. 7) Be patient. Delays and slowdowns are common in work zones. Planning for those delays by leaving earlier or taking an alternate route helps make our drives will help alleviate a lot of stress. Remember that the men and women who are in the work zone are doing their part to make our future journeys safer. JeanMarie Randall knows that, despite all the safety measures and laws put into place, other families will be impacted by work zone accidents in the future. With so much construction going on, particularly in car-dependent cities like Atlanta, Charlotte and Los Angeles, it’s inevitable. But she wants to make sure that we’re doing our part to keep highway work zones as trouble-free as possible. We don’t just owe it to her. We owe it to everyone who makes their living in the highway work zones. Charlotte Observer faith and values columnist Ken Garfield’s article on JeanMarie Randall and her crusade for road safety can be found at http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/columnists/ken_garfield/12222750.htm State-specific information on work zone safety can be found at any of the various state department of transportation websites. To find out other ways, specially, to help with work zone safety, you can email JeanMarie Randall directly at magicgenie2004@yahoo.com ------------ About the author: Claxton Graham has written a number of articles for Useless Knowledge. He works as a business systems analyst. Email: scifiwriter8502@email.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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