Tennessee Road Builders Initiate Statewide Safety Campaign
9 September 1998
Tennessee Road Builders Initiate Statewide Safety Campaign
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Sept. 9, 1998--Last year in Tennessee, 2,978 motorists crashed in highway work zones: 1,269 people were injured and another 20 died.Excessive speed was the number one cause of work zone accidents in the state and nationwide.
To save lives and reduce injuries, the Tennessee Road Builders Association today kicked off a statewide safety campaign to encourage safe driving in construction zones.
In conjunction with the effort, TRBA has joined forces with the Tennessee departments of Transportation and Education to produce and distribute a video on work zone safety. The video, The Other Side of the Barrel, will be added to the state's drivers education curriculum this fall. About 20,000 to 25,000 students will be exposed to the safety message each year.
The safety campaign began today with a ceremony on Interstate 65 at Trinity Lane. Highway construction workers were on hand for the event to lend support to the effort and to highlight the dangers inherent in working along the state's busy highways.
"Road construction is a high-risk job for Tennessee's highway workers," said Kent Starwalt, executive vice president for TRBA. "Vehicles are the greatest danger a worker encounters in a work zone. Each day, they work only a few feet away from on-coming traffic, and each year, many of them are killed or injured because drivers aren't careful or they fail to slow down."
According to the Federal Highway Administration, about 41,000 people are killed each year on our nation's highways, approximately 800 deaths occur in work zones. Nearly 10,000 people are under the age of 21, including infants and children.
"We believe this video has the potential to save lives," said TDOT Commissioner Bruce Saltsman. "By putting it in the hands of young drivers, we hope to establish good driving habits in work zones early."
TRBA and its video The Other Side of the Barrel urges drivers to follow three basic rules when driving in construction zones:
-- Slow Down
Human reaction time is 2.5 seconds, one second for every 10 mph
before you can stop.
-- Pay attention to the road.
Road signs and markings give motorists important driving cues.
-- Be alert
Conditions change rapidly in work zones, and motorists must be
prepared to react quickly.
The video prepares motorists for what to expect when driving through construction zones, including the types of road signs and markings and their meaning. It also reminds motorists why construction is necessary.
"After 20 to 30 years of wear and tear on our state's highways, repairs are necessary to keep us moving into the next century," said Starwalt. "We understand that road construction can be a very frustrating experience, but in the long term, we'll all benefit."
The 10-minute, professionally produced video will be distributed this week to more than 300 high schools and private driving schools statewide.
