Educate Teens about Work Zone Safety Awareness

Q: Highway work zone fatalities have been increasing in my region. We follow the standard procedures—orange vests, Jersey barriers, electronic signs alerting motorists and so forth. But I am haunted by the thought of not doing enough. A friend in another state says a contractor there does safety programs in high schools. The idea is that teens—the future drivers of roads—retain the message of safety better as they are learning how to drive. I’d sort of like to do that here. What should a program encompass? What materials should I have? What should I say?

A: There is definitely a benefit to involving young drivers in safety awareness in work zones.

One teenager is killed every three days in a roadway work zone accident somewhere in the United States. When young people first obtain their driver’s license, they are reaching an important point in their lives. Emphasizing the importance of responsible decision making in work zones is critical.

Fortunately, there are several sources for materials on this topic. First, I suggest you check with your local state department of transportation. If they are a bit thin on material in this area, there are two excellent sources.

The North Carolina DOT at www.ncdot.org/doh/safety/workzone is one good source. Another excellent DOT source is Virginia, at www.virginiadot.org/programs/prog-wzsa-default.asp.

These offer printed materials, teachers’ guides, and informational videos for use in the classroom.

‘Turning Point’

There is also a national initiative called Turning Point: Roadway Work Zone Safety for New Drivers.” It is a program to help new drivers. The campaign is designed to supplement existing driver education courses through:

• A motivational video featuring a reality-based storyline.

• An interactive CD-ROM with real life driving/decision-making scenarios.

• Other promotional, educational and instructor-support materials used to advertise, inform, guide, refer and reinforce the campaign’s messages to teenage drivers, their parents, educators and others.

• Posters, stickers and bookmark to inform and remind teen drivers, and to reinforce campaign messages and information for the general public.

• A searchable CD-ROM of available literature and other educational materials on teen driving and work zone safety issues. This has been prepared chiefly for driving instructors, but this tool is also available to parents, teens and others.

• An instructional Web site at www.workzonedriver.org/index.htm that combines online learning activities with resource information and hyperlinks to other traffic safety-related sites.

The Turning Point Campaign messages are straight forward and in alignment with the basic safety messages important for all drivers in work zones. They are:

• Know the work zone signs.

• Pay attention to other drivers.

• Stay focused. Avoid distractions.

• Expect the unexpected.

• Keep your cool. Be patient.

Unfortunately, many teens may have a personal experience with loosing a friend or young acquaintance in a work zone accident. In my home state, a group of young students in Northeast Missouri formed a coalition that was extremely active in their local community in building awareness through school based activities such as T shirts, visits to the state legislature, and other actions.

Whether in the classroom or through their personal life experiences, these efforts to reach young drivers and involve them at an early driving age is important. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel here. Many excellent resources are available to make your efforts worthwhile and life saving.

Do you have questions on construction human resources or safety?
E-mail them to Leonard Toenjes at ltoenjes@agcstl.org or
craig_barner@mcgraw-hill.com.

(If Len picks your question,
he will answer it in a future issue of Midwest Construction.)