JJ Keller report:

Urging everyone to drive slowly and carefully through highway work zones as repair crews work along the nation’s highways, Acting Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) head Jim Ray joined state transportation officials in kicking off the ninth annual “National Work Zone Awareness Week” on April 8, 2008.

Ray noted that because motorists are four times more likely to be injured or killed in a work zone than highway workers — often due to other drivers who may be speeding — is why the slogan this year is “Slow for the Cone Zone.” There were 1010 fatalities in 2006, and work zone fatalities nationwide have increased over the last decade by nearly 50 percent. More than 3000 work zones are expected on U.S. highways by mid-summer, the peak of travel season.

For maximum safety while driving through a work zone, Ray encouraged drivers to not tailgate and to avoid distractions like texting or using a cell phone while driving. At the national kick-off ceremony in Sacramento, California, Ray joined the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in honoring the memory of 170 Caltrans highway workers who have died in the line of duty since 1924.

With the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and others, FHWA has strongly supported National Work Zone Awareness Week since the event’s creation in 1999.

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