Summer Workzone Safety

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This is Work Zone Safety Week. On Washington’s state and local roads, 46 drivers, passengers and roadway workers were killed and close to 4,000 injured in work zones from 2005-2009. Since 1950, 57 Washington State Department of Transportation employees have lost their lives in work zone-related activities. In 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, 609 people died in highway work zone crashes nationwide – an increase of 19 fatalities compared to 2011.  In 2012, 132 fatal crashes occurred in work zones involving large trucks and buses. I wish to thank those who take time to slow down in our work zones- it only takes a second as you can see in todays video. We too want to get home to our families at the end of each day. Please remember to slow down- your car is like a Weapon....Yesterday someone could have lost a life in a workzone traffic accident near Vantage- Please slow down in work zones.

April 9th, 2014.  GRANT COUNTY, Wash. -- Westbound traffic on Interstate 90 near the Vantage Bridge was stopped for about four hours Wednesday morning after a truck carrying a load of hay crashed into equipment in a work zone.

Washington State Patrol says the driver of the truck, Ricardo Reyes Lopez of Moses Lake, lost control just after 7:30 a.m. and hit an unoccupied street sweeper parked in the right lane, which was closed to traffic due to construction. The truck then sideswiped a Cadillac sedan and hit a pickup truck from behind.

The truck overturned, spilling hay onto the roadway and blocking the westbound lanes.

The driver of the truck was not injured. The other two drivers, Juana Rangel Alvarado of Mattawa and Eric Brindle of Quincy, were taken to Quincy Valley Medical Center for treatment.

Crews were able to clear the roadway around noon.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. WSP says it does not believe alcohol or drugs played a factor.