By Kory Reynolds —
I got held up in a construction zone the other day and I found myself becoming impatient and maybe a little irritated, sound familiar?
I say a little irritated because I was able to stop myself, but it really got me thinking.
The thing is it was my own fault. I had driven this same road two days before and saw the signs that said they would be working on the road and to “expect delays.”
It reminded me of the old saying “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
I was not running late, but I had planned to arrive at my destination a little early, now I would probably be right on time or a little late.
I should have given myself more time, poor planning on my part. I couldn”t even blame my wife or kids for this one, not that they ever make me late. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) does a lot of road construction details where we park in the work area to help make the job site safer.
To me it is like putting police officers in the schools, it”s too bad we have come to the point where we need the police to be there to ensure people behave.
A construction zone should be the safest place to drive and common sense should tell you slow down and pay close attention, but that doesn”t seem to happen.
I did some research into work zone collisions and found that in 2010, the most current year available, there were 87,606 collisions in work zones nationwide. While most of these (69 percent) were property damage collisions 30 percent were injury collisions.
The other thing that really stood out to me is the fact that most of the collisions occur during daylight hours. I would have bet that most happened at night, but I would have been wrong.
Since 1924, 178 Cal-trans workers have been killed on the job, way too many. That total does not include the people who have been killed while doing work under contract with Caltrans.
As I said the CHP does construction site details. We are there to make the work zone safe for the workers. In my experience it does help to have us there but it is not a cure all.
I think the folks who have it the worst are the flaggers. These are the people who are standing near the edge of the highway holding the slow and stop signs.
I think they have it the worst not because they have to stand there and hold a sign, but because angry and irritated people usually yell and scream at them. Always kill the messenger, right?
But why not yell at them? Usually they are women or older workers.
The same people who yell at the flagger are not going to drive by the guy on the steamroller and yell at him. Why? Because that guy will jump down off that steamroller and steamroll them.
I was working one of the work zone details one night when the “slow flagger” contacted me and said someone drove by and threw something at them. Now this is the “slow flagger” the one away from the work zone holding a slow sign. He gave me a description of the vehicle and the passenger that threw the object.
Sure enough I found the vehicle and the passenger he had described. After several lies the passenger finally admitted he did throw something at the flagger.
I ended up citing the passenger and he even returned to the site and apologized to the flagger. I think he felt a little stupid, which is exactly how I would have felt if I had allowed myself to get angry when I got stuck in traffic.
The safety of our highway workers is a shared responsibility. We as the motoring public have to always slow down and remain alert when approaching and in the construction zones. Remember these folks are there for everyone”s safety.
It”s kind of funny we hate road construction but we always want a better road and love the new roads when they are done.
Next time you drive by these guys let them know you appreciate what they are doing for us, making better roadways for safer travel.
Kory Reynolds is the Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol, Clear Lake Area.
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