Don’t Be That Driver!
National Work Zone Awareness Week is an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones and bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.
Last week was that week, but awareness does not stop at the end of any single week.
Since 1999, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) coordinate and sponsor the event.
The key message is for road users to use extra caution in work zones. 2016’s theme, “Don’t Be That Driver!” reinforces the message that motorists should be constantly alert and prepared for dynamic changes in and around work zones.
Sometimes a small idea really catches on. National Work Zone Awareness Week, now in its 11th year, is proof: What began as a small event in a single Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) district has grown into a national program that involves virtually every State in the Union.
Statistics suggest the effort is having a positive effect on safety. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the number of work zone fatalities has decreased in the United States every year since 2002. Data show that crashes in work zones
The first known Work Zone Awareness Week occurred April 7-11, 1997, in VDOT’s Bristol District, in southwestern Virginia. The district’s employee involvement team thought it would be a good idea to spend a week focusing on work zone safety to raise employees’ awareness before they went to work on the roads for the year. The district scheduled the awareness week to coincide with the start of daylight saving time, the informal start of construction and travel season.
The internal awareness campaign went well and the agency decided to take the campaign statewide in 1998, adding an external awareness component as well in recognition of the fact that motorists play an important role in reducing work zone crashes, injuries, and fatalities. The statewide coordinating committee provided suggestions and shared ideas, developed and distributed training materials and work zone keepsake items (key chains, magnets), and prepare statistics and taglines to distribute to the media.
The goals of VDOT’s internal campaign were to raise employees’ awareness of the dangers associated with work zones and to increase their dedication to ensuring that their work zones function properly. The internal campaign included encouraging workers to wear high-quality safety vests and ensure proper operation of the lights on work vehicles. VDOT recommended tying orange ribbons on the vehicles’ antennae and driving with the headlights on as visible reminders of the campaign’s purpose.
Believing there is strength in numbers, it makes sense to conduct the campaign nationwide, the VDOT brought the idea to a meeting of the American Traffic Safety Services Association’s (ATSSA) Safety and Public Awareness Committee at the 1998 ATSSA annual conference. The board liked the idea and decided to support creation of a national campaign.
In early 1999, ATSSA staff discussed the idea with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), seeking their leadership as partners in launching the first National Work Zone Awareness Week. By December 1999, the three organizations had signed an agreement to create the national campaign.
Agreement Creating the National Event Objectives
- Increase public awareness of need for greater caution and care while driving through work zones to reduce fatalities and injuries.
- Establish and promote a common set of safety tips for motorists.
- Increase public sector, industry, and worker awareness of the value of training and best practices regarding work zone safety.
- Establish a nationwide program to promote work zone safety.
- Communicate to workers and contractors the effects of motorist frustration with delays on their driving behavior and suggest possible actions to alleviate that behavior.
- Engage interested parties involved in work zone safety as partners.
Work zone safety affects both motorists and workers, and the trends in both areas have been heading in the right direction. Yet more remains to be done to save lives and prevent injury.
National Work Zone Awareness Week will continue to be a rallying point for FHWA, State DOTs, and others committed to highway safety
“Don’t be that Driver!” …. pay close attention in those work zones. Not just during awareness week, but every week.