GARDEN CITY, NY (April 13, 2022) Warming weather means the United States is about to embark on a program of highway improvements not seen in decades with the infrastructure bill pumping billions of dollars into road construction and repair. Unfortunately, bad driver behavior developed during the pandemic continues, including work zone intrusions, an incident where a vehicle enters a portion of a roadway that is closed due to construction or maintenance activity. With lots of road work set to begin, AAA Northeast is warning drivers to be extra cautious in work zones during National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 11-15.
“Last year, there were 371 work zone intrusions in New York state, 50 of those intrusions resulted in injuries to highway workers or vehicle occupants,” said Robert Sinclair Jr. of AAA Northeast.
Karen Torres lost her father in a work zone crash on St. Patrick’s Day in 2006, when a speeding driver was distracted by a dropped water bottle at a pothole repair site on Sunrise Highway in Suffolk County. “It takes a conscious effort to not be distracted,” Torres said. Her father told her frustrated drivers used to spit at him and throw garbage his way because he was working to help make roads safer. “Parents need to talk to their kids,” Torres added, expressing the hope that young drivers will learn to pay attention on the road, and show respect for the workers trying to improve safety for us all.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. “We hope drivers will keep Karen’s father in mind and slow down in work zones and not drive distracted,” Sinclair added.
Under legislation recently signed by Governor Hochul, a pilot program will place automated speed monitoring systems in work zones to penalize drivers who violate speed limits. This will be on top of Operation Hardhat that places police officers dressed as highway workers in work zones to identify motorists who speed, disobey flagging personnel and violate the state’s Move Over law. A total of 2,336 tickets were issued to drivers last year during Operation Hardhat, surpassing the previous year’s total of 2,018.