National Work Zone Awareness Week encourages safe driving amid construction season

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — April 15-19 is National Work Zone Awareness Week.

It is a time to remember how we need to be safe while driving, especially when workers are present.

Nichole Lawrence, Community Relations Officer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, tells us why this week is chosen.

“You know, April is our kickoff to Work Zone Awareness Week. We do that in the springtime because it is kind of the official kick off to construction season,” Lawrence said.

The message is simple when it comes to this week. Keeping workers safe is the main goal.

“Work zones are temporary. Your actions in a work zone can last a lifetime,” Lawrence said. “We just need folks to pay attention, slow down, and be aware when you’re driving through those work zones.”

Unfortunately, accidents have happened and lives have been lost over the years.

“Since 1949 we have lost 113 TDOT employees. That’s 113 too many. Just senseless acts of drivers not understanding and not paying attention in those work zones,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence has a final message for us to remember the next time we get behind the wheel.

“Make it personal to you,” she said. “You have one responsibility, and that’s to drive from Point A to Point B. So make sure that when you are driving through a work zone that you are recognizing that folks are out there working. One little slip can make a drastic change for someone for the rest of their lives.”

Since January of this year, there have been 29 crashes at work zones. Thankfully, nobody was tremendously hurt.

In 2023, 22 people died in work zone crashes.

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