Worker Safety - Work zone awareness
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Work zone awareness
April is work zone awareness month at WSDOT
Work zone safety is important year-round to protect both workers and travelers on roadways.
WSDOT stresses work zone safety throughout the year but spends the entire month of April on an outreach campaign before the start of the busy spring and summer construction seasons. April is also the month of the National Work Zone Awareness Week each year. The month-long campaign is a chance to remind everyone of the risks and why drivers need to slow down for road crews maintaining and constructing the state's transportation system. In 2023, there were 1,228 work zone crashes on state highways.
In addition to a number of blogs, videos and social media posts showing roadway workers and the risks they face, WSDOT also holds the annual Worker Memorial ceremony each April in Olympia, honoring 61 fallen workers killed on the job — many in marked work zones.
Most road workers can recount incidents where they had to jump out of the way or take other action to avoid tragedy due to drivers entering work zones. Most work zone crashes are easily preventable: According to the Washington State Patrol, the top three reasons for work zone collisions in 2023 (in this order) were following too closely, excessive speed, and inattention/distracted driving.
- Slow Down - drive the posted speeds, they're there for your safety
- Be Kind - our workers are helping to keep you safe and improve the roadways
- Pay Attention - both to workers directing you and surrounding traffic
- Stay Calm - expect delays, leave early or take an alternate route if possible; no meeting or appointment is worth risking someone's life
Social media outreach:
WSDOT blog:
Source: WSDOT Work zone safety.
Note: These are fatal crashes, not the number of total fatalities; some crashes can have more than one fatality. Example: In 2022, there were five fatal crashes resulting in six total deaths. In 2023, there were 10 fatal crashes resulting in 10 total deaths.
Performance analysis
2023
Work zone crashes decrease 6.4%, work zone fatal crashes increase 100% from 2022 to 2023
The number of crashes in work zones on Washington state highways decreased 6.4% from 1,312 in 2022 to 1,228 in 2023. With the exception of 2020—which had fewer active work zones and crashes than other years due to the COVID-19 pandemic—the number of crashes has been on a steady downward trend for the past five years. In 2019, there were 1,676 which translates into a five-year decrease of 26.7% to 1,228 in 2023. This still means in 2023 there was an average of more than 100 work zone crashes each month.
The number of fatal crashes in work zones on Washington state highways increased 100% from five in 2022 to 10 in 2023 (these represent the number of crashes only and do not include the total number of people who were killed in a given crash). While the number of fatal crashes in work zones was on a steady decrease between 2020-2022, the 10 fatal crashes in 2023 was the same as in 2019.