The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will host the kick-off event for this year’s program near the 32-mile I-75 widening project outside of Toledo on April 12 at 10 a.m.
April 13 is the annual Go Orange Day, at which time the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) encourages roadway safety professionals to wear orange in support of NWZAW. ATSSA also wants those wearing orange to post photos on social media using the hashtags #OrangeforSafety and #NWZAW.
The program was created in 1999 as a means of highlighting hazards for both workers and motorists in road construction zones. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), a member of the NNWZAW executive committee, says an average of nearly 600 people are killed in road work zone sites each year, with roughly 30,000 being injured. About 120 of those killed each year are road construction workers.
ARTBA offers the following tips for motorists when driving through or near road construction zones:
The ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation has also created a National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse at www.workzonesafety.org. The site offers accident and crash data, flagging, emerging technologies and equipment, best practices, laws and regulations, safety standards, research publications and training videos.
Previous NWZAW themes included:
