Who’s more at fault for work-zone crashes: Drivers or contractors?
December 28, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: contractor safety, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, Transportation safety
PDF You’re probably aware of the campaigns to get drivers to slow down in road construction zones. But while governments have been focusing on that, they’ve paid less attention to the role of contractors in construction zone crashes.
Regulations governing contractors’ safety responsibilities vary from state to state.
A New York Times article says, as a result, there are few penalties levied against contractors when guidelines are violated.
Why this is more important now than ever: The federal government has poured billions of stimulus dollars into state road construction. There will be a lot of road construction in the next few years.
And some of the contractors getting stimulus money to rebuild roads have been involved with fatal highway crashes.
Example: This year, Florida awarded a bridge-repair contract for $744,000 to Zep Construction of Fort Myers. The Times says Zep has a long history that includes work-zone safety done wrong.
Two years ago in Sarasota, while repairing a bridge on I-75, Zep used a rolling roadblock. In a properly run roadblock, police cruisers slow down traffic to 20 miles an hour.
But shortly after midnight on Oct. 1, 2007, traffic in this roadblock came to a halt in a blind spot where the speed limit was 70.
A tractor trailer wasn’t able to stop in time and plowed into a car driven by James Brashear with his 11-year-old son, Tyler, also on board. The crash killed Mr. Brashear instantly, his body wedged against his son’s lap. One other motorist was killed, and 10 others were injured.
The State Transportation Department cited Zep. The lawyer for Tyler’s mother said he believed the financial incentives for contractors to finish projects early and earn a bonus undermined safety.
Despite the crash and citation, Florida gave Zep 98 out of 110 possible points for the I-75 project — 89%, or roughly a B+.
SafetyNewsAlert.com delivers the latest Safety news once a week to the inboxes of over 270,000 Safety professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to SafetyNewsAlert!
Loading ...
December 28th, 2009 at 10:45 am
When training our forklift operators I always tell them they are in control of a 3000 lb piece of equipment and they must always grant the “right-of-way” to pedestrians traffic. I don’t care if people are walking through the plant distracted by the bright lights and shiney objects, YOU ARE IN CONTROL. How is this any different? People need to slow down in work zones, hopefully things have gotten better since the “move over” law was enacted here in WI (national?) but obviously we need to get better.
December 29th, 2009 at 8:11 am
As a person who travels the interstate system in many of the Eastern states I feel that some construction companies fail to take into consideration peak traffic periods. Their main focus is on the average number of travelers and not considering what will happen during weekends or rush hour. Traffic will back up extremely fast when slowed from 70 mph to 20 so they must be prepared. As I am sure each of us have encountered when the traffic is not funnelled into a single lane far enough back from the construction, traffic problems will start to occur. The contractor should and must take into consideration peak traffic times and have a plan to adjust traffic patterns during these times.
December 29th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
The speed limit is 70 mph through a blind spot? Sounds like the contractor screwed up, but shouldnt Florida consider lowering the speed limit in places where you cannot see the road ahead of you? Highway construction isnt the only reason traffic comes to a halt.
December 29th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I’ve been through many contruction zones; some where there is plenty of leaway for workers, but some where the construction workers are right at the edge of the zone. sometimes I’ve seen them standing and/or working between the cones and even standing partially outside the work zones. hopefully (and if not, there should be) codes/regulations on construction zone sites and how they should be built.
January 5th, 2010 at 9:02 am
After reading the article and the comments, I have this to add:
The controls are so variable that it is mind boggeling. We have done jobs that specify Traffic Control according to the (National) MUTCD, the State Manual for traffic control, the Project Owner’s Plan Specifications, and Local laws - all of this within a 50-mile radius.
We have had our barreels hit, our jersey barriers hit, our machinery hit, but thank God, we have not had a worker hit. Speed is a big problem, but we have also been hit by people who were trying to pass because they “couldn’t stand the delay”, because they were drunk, because they fell asleep at the wheel, and other reasons.
While some contractors may do a poor job on their traffic control, my opinion is that the biggest problem falls to the drivers who are just too absorbed in their own issues to pay proper attention to driving.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Maybe in the state of Florida the contractors are slacking but up in the North East we are on top of our game! The state i live and work in is very strict with highway traffic patterns, detours, and closures. The contractors have been held accountable in our high traffic areas and as a contractor you are required to uphold the states standards. I would say the majority of our accidents in the work zones involving 3rd party vehicles occur from motorists who are unaware of construction zone rules and safety. For example when we place a sign up the speed limit is reduced it means SLOW DOWN and be alert because we are obviously doing something to warrant the reduction in speed. Addittionally if motorists are uneducated about work zone patterns, signs, and detours than that is something that should be considered for a PSA. Educate drivers and stop blaming contractors they already go above and beyond!