Highway Work Zone Compliance Isn’t Voluntary

Some people get a number in their heads and don’t count on any deviations. If it’s 100 miles (160 kilometers) between city A and city B, it takes two hours tops to make the drive. So when an unexpected highway work zone is encountered on the journey, delaying it by half an hour, many drivers get grumpy.

Even if they aren’t forced to stop for long periods, drivers frequently exceed highway work zone speed limits and tailgate drivers who aren’t speeding. In this atmosphere of unexpected delays, it’s easy to see how driver aggression can have tragic consequences.

Work Zone Fatality Numbers Are Shockingly High

According to the Federal Highway Administration, 1,010 people died as a result of highway work zone crashes across the US in 2006. Eighty-five percent of the victims were drivers or vehicle occupants. In Canada about 40 work zone deaths are recorded each year.