Work Zone Awareness Week reminds drivers to slow down

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - April 11 through the 15 is National Work Zone Awareness Week. It serves to remind all drivers to slow down and pay more attention as they move through work zones.

There’s a reason National Work Zone Awareness week is this time of year. Spring generally kicks off construction season for road crews, so we’ll see more construction and work zones as we drive. This time of year is also when traffic increases as more people start to take vacations.

This year’s Work Zone Awareness Week theme is “Work Zones are a Sign to Slow Down.”

According to the Alabama Department of Transportation, most people killed in work zone crashes are motorists and their passengers. We’ll be seeing billboards along the roads to remind us as we drive that the lives of those workers on the road, the passengers in our cars, and ourselves as drivers are in our hands. So this week is about starting the conversation about how we all can do our part to keep work zones safe.

ALDOT says there was more than 2,000 work zone crashes in our state in 2021. Over 400 people were injured, and 17 people died. The good news is those numbers are down from the year before.

Many in the transportation industry credit a new law for that decline. The fine for any moving traffic violation committed in a construction zone will result in a $250 fine, or double the amount of the regular fine, whichever amount is greater.

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