Slow for the Cone Zone
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is continuing to building off of the efforts of April's National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, a coast-to-coast effort to reduce accidents in highway construction zones, by further emphasizing this important theme.
Aimed at reducing the 5,000 accidents in construction zones last year, ODOT is urging drivers to look up, hang up cell phones, and go “slow for the cone zone” during this summer’s historic construction season.
With more than 1,600 transportation construction projects underway this summer in Ohio – including projects in every county – safety experts say it’s even more critical that drivers be alert and follow posted speed limits when traveling through construction zones.
“There are a lot of variables in work zones - the cones, signs, equipment and workers. With reduced speed limits and traffic lane shifts, it’s important to slow down and be aware of your surroundings in a work zone at all times of the day - for everyone’s safety,” said ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris.
In 2009, there were 5,012 crashes in work zones along Ohio’s roadways. 13 people lost their lives. While the numbers are down from the year before, it still represents one work zone crash every two hours in Ohio.
An ODOT analysis shows that the causes of most work zone related crashes are speeding, vehicles following too close together, and drivers making improper lane changes. Safety experts are taking special aim this year at motorists who are using cell phones while driving through work zones.
To help drivers safely navigate Ohio’s historic construction season, ODOT is offering the latest information on all of the construction projects in Ohio that might impact travel on www.BuckeyeTraffic.org. ODOT’s premier website offers up-to-the-minute road conditions and details on highway construction projects in every area of the state.
So please do your part for safety – for yourself, your family, other motorists and the hardworking folks in construction areas throughout the state – by remembering to take it Slow for the Cone Zone.