Complete Story
 

04/18/2019

Warm Weather Means the Return of Orange Barrel Season

Be careful on the road

After the long winter months, the orange barrels of roadwork zones are a rite of spring in Ohio. Along with these orange barrels come road crews with lots of workers.

While National Work Zone Awareness Week was last week, the theme applies every day of the year. "Drive Like You Work Here" asks us all to view work zone safety as if we were part of the crew working to upgrade our roadways. Recent statistics from the National Highway Safety Administration show we can all think about work zone safety a bit more. For example, from 2016 to 2017, there was a 2 percent increase in total work zone fatalities and an increase from 668 to 710 total work zone crashes. 

In 2017 there were 710 fatal crashes resulting in 799 deaths in work zones. Most of the fatalities were motorists – 132 of them were worker fatalities. As drivers, we can all do our part to protect ourselves and the men and women working in already hazardous conditions. The following tips from the Federal Highway Administration can help prevent accidents and save lives.   

Be sure to follow the Ohio Department of Transportation on Twitter for more tips and graphics regarding the importance of work zone awareness.

Printer-Friendly Version