New Survey Shows Increased Safety Risk in Cone Zones
Sixty-eight percent of the nation’s highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study recently conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials added that the study found those work-zone crashes are more likely to kill construction workers than they are to kill vehicle operators or passengers.
“Any time your jobsite is just a few feet away from fast-moving traffic, things can get a little too exciting,” said Tom Brown, the chair of the association’s national highway and transportation division and president of Vista, Calif.-based Sierra Pacific West. “Since construction workers don’t get the option of wearing seatbelts, they are more likely to be killed in a work-zone crash than motorists are.”