FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 25, 2016
CONTACT: Andria Hine, Indiana Constructors, Inc. (317) 634-7547
Construction Group Urges Summer Travel Safety Through Indiana’s Highway Work Zones
As Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer and Hoosiers take to the open road for family vacations, Indiana Constructors, Inc. (ICI) urges motorists to stay alert while driving through Indiana highway work zones. Highway workers face danger on the job, and drivers and passengers face an even higher risk of being hurt or killed in work zone crashes.
A new highway work zone study, conducted by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, shows 39 percent of highway contractors reported motor vehicles crashes in their work zones in 2015. And those crashes had devastating results:
“Any time your job site is just a few feet away from fast-moving traffic, danger is right there with you,” said ICI President Richard Hedgecock. “An orange cone is no match for a speeding car, and it shouldn’t take a needless fatality to figure that out,” he added.
Indiana Constructors, Inc. is working with the Indiana Department of Transportation and federal transportation officials, as well as the Road Construction Awareness Corporation, to raise work zone safety awareness.
But Hedgecock suggested that the best way to improve safety was for motorists to be more careful while driving through highway work zones. “When you see construction signs and orange barrels, take your foot off the gas, get off the phone and keep your eyes on the road,” he added. “It is not worth putting your life or someone else’s at risk just to save a few seconds on the road.”
AGC of America’s work zone safety study is based on a nationwide survey of highway construction firms conducted in March and April. More than 800 contractors completed the survey. View the complete national and regional survey results here.
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Indiana Constructors, Inc. is the voice of Indiana’s highway, heavy and utility construction industry. Learn more at www.indianaconstructors.org.