Wednesday, April 10, 2002
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Wednesday, April 10, 2002 |
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Motorists urged to slow down in DOT work zones This week has been proclaimed Work Zone Safety Awareness Week in Georgia by Gov. Roy Barnes. The week marks the Department of Transportation's annual awareness campaign aimed at saving motorists' and employees' lives as they travel through and work in road construction and maintenance work zones. Last year, a Department of Transportation employee was struck and killed by a vehicle while working on one of metro Atlanta's roadsides. Just recently, the DOT lost another employee in a work zone accident as Danny Wilbanks was killed while working on Ga. Highway 372. The campaign's slogan is "Slow Down, It Won't Kill You." "Our campaign is geared to get motorists to slow down whether work zones appear to be hazardous or not, or whether a work crew appears to be there or not," said DOT Commissioner Tom Coleman. Since national organizations began collecting the data in 1973, 53 DOT employees have been killed in work zones. The DOT has instituted new safety policies and procedures, from using new larger, highly-reflective safety vests to developing additional roadside signs and messages that warn motorists of hazardous conditions and slower speed limits as they approach work zones.
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