Safe driving in work zones emphasized by state officials

National Work Zone Safety Week

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials on Wednesday held a press conference outside the Capitol to promote driver safety during construction season as part of National Work Zone Awareness Week.

“This is an important time and a special time that we set aside to emphasize the importance of being alert and being safe, around the men and women who are out there working in and around highway traffic,” said Transportation Secretary Jim Gray. “Our message to the traveling public is, ‘Safe drivers plus safe workers equals safe work zones.’”

He said work zones are not limited to highway construction or maintenance work. 

“The next work zone you might see will involve a mowing crew.  It might be a utility crew.  Simply put, anyplace where there is a worker on or around a road is a work zone,” Gray said. “Right now, at a hospital in Louisville, a man who was on a contractor mowing crew in Daviess County is in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle just last week.  Last month in Maryland, six construction workers were struck and killed in a work zone on Interstate 695.”

Data from the Cabinet indicates in Kentucky during 2006, there were 610 crashes in work zones, resulting in 150 injuries and 15 deaths.  That number rose to 1,074 in 2022, the third-highest total during that period, along with 271 injuries and six deaths.

Gray noted it is not just work zone crews who suffer with the crashes.  “Two of the six people killed last year in Kentucky were not workers, they were vehicle drivers or passengers.”

Kentucky State Police Capt. Paul Blanton offered some safety tips for drivers.  “Being a safe driver means slowing down, increasing the distance between the vehicle ahead of you, putting the phone down, and showing patience in a work zone.”

Blanton said the KSP will be stepping up enforcement efforts in work zone areas.  “You will see an increased presence by KSP and local law enforcement, in and around work zones across Kentucky.  Remember, the decisions you make behind the wheel can be life-changing.  How you choose to drive in a work zone can alter your future  and the future of those working in those areas.”