Work Zones

The 10th and final Andrew York Memorial Lineman Rodeo is today in Wenatchee. The Rodeo honors a Chelan County PUD lineman who died in 2000 from injuries suffered on the job when he was hit by a drunken driver in a work zone. Work Zone accidents happen because of Inattention, Impatience, Drinking/Drugs, Cell Phones,  Speed, or  just plain stupidity.  Just last week a car decided to pass the string of cars even though I was standing in the lane adjacent to my truck with lights going- One would normally think cars passing look ahead; but coming within 2 feet of someone not expecting you at 70 mph is kinda stupid. We see the same on striper truck, passing with cars coming toward them. We have people passing on the right, some will even take frontage roads hoping to get around us. They do not seem to care fines double in work zones- I guess you can't fix stupid. To those who do slow down and care about safety- my hats off to you. Sorry Mr. Andrew York cannot be here today.

•Ignoring a warning can cause much mourning.

You already know to move over for law enforcement, fire vehicles and ambulances. But did you know Delaware’s “Move Over Law” has recently been extended to include DelDOT vehicles and tow trucks as well? It’s easy to recognize which vehicles you need to move over for, just look for flashing blue, red, white or amber emergency lights. And this applies not only to highway work zones, but any time these lights are flashing – for example when a law enforcement officer has pulled a vehicle over for speeding, or when a tow truck is at the scene of an accident. Motorists who break the law and end up hurting an emergency worker may be committing a felony and may face up to four years in prison.

  
Chance takers are accident maker

•Safety comes before Schedule only in the dictionary.
•Macho does not prove mucho. Do it safely.
•Working safely each day will keep the doctor away.
•Flesh and Bone are no match for a grinding stone.
•Those precious fingers don’t ignore. . . Or they could end up on the floor.
•While on a ladder, never step back to admire your work
•Safety is something you learn from the start – Being accident free is doing your part.
•Falling objects can be brutal if you don’t protect your noodle.
•Safety slogans are nifty – Give me my fifty.
•Safety doesn’t slow the job down but mishaps do.
•Put safety into action – the wishbone will never replace the backbone.
•Protect only the fingers you WANT to keep!
•Safety… You will regret if you forget.
•Open the Door to Safety: Awareness is the Key
•Protect your hands, you need them to pick up your pay check
•10 fingers. 10 toes, if you are not safe – who knows?
•Don’t count on your coworker to be the smart one. You know him too well for that.

Thursday, June 23, 2016
Another work-zone crash highlights need to slow down, focus
By Mike Allende
Road crews on Interstate 5 had a bad scare Wednesday night, June 22 in a scene that's becoming all too common in our work zones.
A contractor crew was setting up traffic control devices on a paving project north of Stanwood. At 8:40 p.m., a pickup slammed into a truck mounted attenuator on the project. The crew escaped major injury, but workers were so shaken by the crash – and driver injuries – that work was cancelled for the night.


The crash also blocked all of northbound I-5 for about one hour and caused a significant backup headed into Mt. Vernon.
Thankfully the TMA – a giant, accordion-like buffer between work crews and drivers -- did its job and shielded the workers. But even with this safety device two people were sent to the hospital: the attenuator driver and the pickup driver, who was transported by emergency helicopter.


We wish this was a rare occurrence, but the danger in our work zones is very real. We average 916 work zone injuries a year on state roads. In 2015, nine people died in Washington work zone crashes. And most often, it isn't the workers who are at the most risk. The fact is, 96 percent of people hurt in work zone crashes in our state are drivers, their passengers or passing pedestrians.

It's vital for drivers to slow down and be focused on the road at all times -- for the safety of highway workers but also for themselves and their fellow travelers.