![]() ![]() Without any protective barriers, they need drivers to give them as much space and consideration as possible.Īutomated Flagger Assistance Devices (AFADs) also indicate a work zone ahead. For example, paramedics treat patients who have been hurt on or near roads. They may use barriers like barrels and fences, rumble strips, electronic signs, and reflectors instead.Īnd not all roadside workers are protected by work zone barriers. You can often recognize a work zone by its bright orange cones, signs, devices, and traffic control persons. Tens of thousands of BC residents work in these zones every day, including municipal workers, landscapers, traffic control persons, tow truck drivers, road construction and maintenance workers, telecommunications and utility workers, and emergency and enforcement personnel.Įvery one of them deserves to get home safe and healthy. These types of work sites involve hundreds of activities. Or it can be mobile work, such as mowing, line painting or garbage and recycling collection. It can be fixed in one place, such as a construction site or the area around a tow truck picking up a stranded vehicle. So, when you see flashing lights, slow down and move over - it's the law.A roadside work zone is any area next to a road where a worker may be exposed to the hazards of moving vehicles. "I know that most motorists have never had the opportunity to stand out on the freeway with traffic going by you at 70 to 80 mph, and it's scary." The top errors by drivers that lead to those crashes are speeding too fast for conditions and failing to yield to flashing lights.Ī spike in fatal crashes in Utah over the last two years means there are even more crash responders at risk. According to state numbers, crashes with emergency vehicles peak from 3 p.m. Since 2018, 11 people in Utah have been killed and 37 others seriously injured in those types of crashes. The speeds are up," Peterson said, explaining part of the problem. So far in 2021, that number is already at 53.įrom 2010 to 2019, 535 police officers were killed in crashes on the side of the road. Nationally, nearly 50 first responders are hit each year. The top errors by drivers that lead to those crashes are speeding too fast for conditions and failing to yield to flashing lights. Since 2018, 11 people in Utah have been killed and 37 others seriously injured in crashes on the side of the road. Jeff Nigbur, assistant superintendent of the UHP. "We're just trying to bring attention to the problem that we're getting hit out on on the roadways," said Maj. So he and other crash responders are asking all Utah drivers to focus on safety, so they can make it home to their families. His truck was out of service for four months. Peterson ended up with hairline fractures in his neck. "The vehicle that hit me spun around and basically did a PIT ( pursuit intervention technique) maneuver on my truck," he said. He was driving home three years ago on Thanksgiving Day when he was rear-ended by a drunk driver, who was speeding in a storm. "I felt a jolt in my truck, and it started to fishtail a little bit." "I didn't see him coming," said Peterson. Peterson has been helping with roadside problems the last two decades.įour members of his team have been hit in the last three years, including him. Alan Peterson, an incident management supervisor with the Utah Department of Transportation, was driving home three years ago on Thanksgiving Day when he was rear-ended by a drunk driver, who was speeding in a storm. ![]()
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