Submitted by Aiken Jacobsen on
Construction zones can be an extremely dangerous place for Sacramento workers, authorities and others. One can easily underestimate the potential for danger when driving past a "cone zone" at any time, but the numbers are particularly staggering in terms of recent accidents. Over three days in mid-September, a series of severe construction vehicle accidents occurred in California, as part of four overall crashes involving 15 people.
In many of these cases, vehicles entering restricted zones have led to serious injuries involving highway workers and law officers. Construction zone fatalities are down 56 percent since 1999, which is when "Slow for the Cone Zone" programs were launched by federal officials. Nevertheless, authorities are increasingly concerned over the potentially lethal mix of distracted driving and road construction.
On Sept. 16, a vehicle slammed into an idle Caltrans truck. A day later, a California Highway Patrol officer likely saved a Caltrans maintenance worker from serious injury, or worse, when he flashed his lights to warn a car that it was nearing the construction worker. Two Caltrans workers, six members of a construction crew and the driver of a big rig were injured when the big rig drove into their work zone.
A Caltrans spokesperson cites illegal use of mobile devices, among other forms of distracted driving, as a significant cause of many of these crashes. Although there has been much progress regarding safety measures for maintenance and construction jobs, attributed by some to higher fines and emphasis on worker safety, they still prove to be some of the most dangerous occupations in the country. Those injured in construction vehicle accidents can only hope to get back to their ordinary lives, and after recovering from their injuries, they may pursue personal injury claims against negligent third parties to help cope with financial and emotional catastrophe that is often an unfortunate byproduct in these cases.
Source: The Sacramento Bee, Four California 'cone zone' crashes lead to safety warning, Tony Bizjak, Sept. 26, 2013
