04/16/13 Governor Michael R. Pence is proclaiming April 15-19, 2013 as Work Zone Awareness Week in Indiana. Work Zone Awareness Week marks the ceremonial start to highway construction season and aims to bring awareness to motorist and worker safety in work zones. The danger is real. In 2012, Eight people were killed and more than 500 were injured in Indiana work zones.
This year the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) produced a new public service announcement (PSA) titled “No One Drives Through Your Office at 70 mph”. The new video showcasing the dangers of speeding through work zones is featured on the INDOT YouTube page. INDOT encourages the media to share the new PSA and inform the public about Work Zone Awareness Week. Find the PSA at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71EZ3ZvYFs
Highway workers aren’t the only ones at risk. Four out of every five deaths in highway work zones are drivers and their passengers. The majority of work zone injuries and deaths are caused by rear-end collisions, following too closely, or making improper lane changes.
The penalties in work zones are stiff. Motorists face fines of up to $1,000 for speeding, up to $5,000 for driving recklessly, and up to $10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to eight years for injuring or killing a highway worker. These fines are used to fund additional Indiana State Police work zone patrols
For more about Work Zone Awareness Week check out our Northwest District’s social media sites: www.Facebook.com/INDOTNorthwest and www.Twitter.com/INDOTNorthwest.
