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One State Targets Teen Drivers to Reduce Work Zone Deaths
One State Targets Teen Drivers to Reduce Work Zone Deaths
By Daniel C. Vock,
Senior Reporter, Route Fifty
Connecting state and local government leaders
MAY 26, 2023
As traffic deaths surge, contractors are calling on states to do more. One state—Oklahoma—will be the first in the nation to require teen drivers to complete a course on construction worker safety.
TRANSPORTATION
PUBLIC SAFETY
To combat a national rise in worker deaths, Oklahoma this fall will require new teen drivers to complete a one-hour course online about work zone safety. It will be the first state in the country to do so. ... The law is intended to deal with a problem many states are wrestling with: a surge in traffic deaths, including in work zones.
The number of people who died in work zone crashes increased from 586 people in 2010, to 956 people in 2021. Meanwhile, 55% of highway contractors in a national survey administered by the Associated General Contractors of America reported that they had a motor vehicle crash on one of their work sites last year.
A March crash in Baltimore that left six workers dead galvanized construction workers and their employers to call attention to the dangers of driving recklessly in construction zones. The drivers of the two cars that collided in the Baltimore crash were both speeding, according to a preliminary report by federal investigators.
With Americans starting to travel for summer vacations and construction crews coming up on their busiest season of the year, many contractors are pushing for policies to reduce injuries and death to both workers and drivers.
{snip}
By Daniel C. Vock,
Senior Reporter, Route Fifty
Connecting state and local government leaders
MAY 26, 2023
As traffic deaths surge, contractors are calling on states to do more. One state—Oklahoma—will be the first in the nation to require teen drivers to complete a course on construction worker safety.
TRANSPORTATION
PUBLIC SAFETY
To combat a national rise in worker deaths, Oklahoma this fall will require new teen drivers to complete a one-hour course online about work zone safety. It will be the first state in the country to do so. ... The law is intended to deal with a problem many states are wrestling with: a surge in traffic deaths, including in work zones.
The number of people who died in work zone crashes increased from 586 people in 2010, to 956 people in 2021. Meanwhile, 55% of highway contractors in a national survey administered by the Associated General Contractors of America reported that they had a motor vehicle crash on one of their work sites last year.
A March crash in Baltimore that left six workers dead galvanized construction workers and their employers to call attention to the dangers of driving recklessly in construction zones. The drivers of the two cars that collided in the Baltimore crash were both speeding, according to a preliminary report by federal investigators.
With Americans starting to travel for summer vacations and construction crews coming up on their busiest season of the year, many contractors are pushing for policies to reduce injuries and death to both workers and drivers.
{snip}