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TRADE NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Contact: Bill Wright
Phone: (202) 693-1999

WASHINGTON -- The third annual National Highway Work Zone Safety Week begins April 8, 2002, with an 11 a.m. kickoff event at a work zone site at the I-95/I-495 Interchange at Ritchie Marlboro Road in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Under the banner of "Roadways Keep America Moving -- Drive Safely in Work Zones," the event features the unveiling of a memorial wall in honor of those who lost their lives in highway work zones.

Deaths and injuries among highway workers and others in construction work zones on U.S. highways represent a growing problem, according to the Federal Highway Administration. In 2000, there were an estimated 1,093 fatalities in work zones.

To prevent crashes, motorists are urged to remain alert and pay careful attention, minimize distractions, avoid changing lanes, keep up with the traffic flow, turn on headlights, avoid tailgating and speeding, expect the unexpected, and be patient.

The Work Zone Safety Awareness Week Program began in December 1999 when a joint cooperative effort was formed to highlight the dangers that both workers and motorists face within highway work zones. Included in that effort is OSHA, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association General Contractors, the American Road and Transportation Builders, and more than twenty other groups.

A fact sheet and additional materials on the national work zone safety campaign can be accessed from the Federal Highway Administration's safety page. The campaign is also listed on OSHA's website on the Events Page.