Today, officials from around the country gathered together in downtown Chicago to announce this is “National Work Zone Awareness Week.” For details about the event and the public awareness campaign against work zone accidents, see our previous post.
Indiana and Illinois Work Zones: Check Status Online
Today there are construction work zones on streets, roads, as well as highways and interstates all over our part of the country. Spring heralds in “road construction season” here.
Drivers and workers in both Illinois and Indiana are able to monitor work zones online.
There will be a great number of road construction work zones this year in both Illinois and Indiana. The Illinois Department of Transportation has begun publishing its list of road construction projects on its website. In fact, workers for Illinois’ DOT are already placing warning signs along the routes.
Indiana communities are gearing up for increasing road construction, as well. The Department of Transportation for the State of Indiana has a website which provides not only current traffic conditions (TrafficWise) but it provides a separate page dedicated to road closure status for each county in the state (INDOT CARS511).
Danger of Fatal Work Zone Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
Of course, these sites are helpful to everyone. However, these sites cannot provide drivers and workers with additional safeguards and protections against work zone injuries or death.
The danger of dying or being seriously and permanently injured in a work zone accident is a significant risk for all of us who live here in Illinois or Indiana.
Construction zones involve a variety of risks where accident victims can be severely hurt or killed. These include:
1. Distracted Drivers
It is especially important for drivers to be alert and aware as they drive through any work zone. No one should be using their phones, changing their music, or checking their maps, while they are maneuvering through a construction zone.
Distractions cause serious injuries and deaths. See:
Employer Liability for Distracted Driving Accidents in Indiana or Illinois
Fatal Distracted Driving Accidents: How Much at Risk are You Here in Indiana and Illinois?
2. Speeding Drivers
Many drivers become impatient while driving through a road construction work zone. They may not see work in progress, and wonder why they need to slow down. They may simply want to hurry along and choose to ignore the posted speed limits.
Speeding is a serious threat to everyone on the road. See:
Why the Rise in Car Crash Deaths and Fatal Traffic Accidents?
Illinois Roads Are More Dangerous After Gov Quinn Okays Faster Semi Truck Speeds at 65 MPH and More
3. Safety Belts
All too often, someone dies in a work zone accident because they failed to wear their seat belt. Safety belts can save lives. See:
Is Your Teenager Wearing a Seat Belt While in the Car? Are You? New 2015 CDC Warnings Released
Why the Rise in Car Crash Deaths and Fatal Traffic Accidents?
4. Road Rage and Impatient Drivers
Road rage and reckless driving are a common problem in construction work zones. However, both are the reason for preventable deaths in Indiana and Illinois.
Indiana is known as being first in the country for road rage. Last year, Illinois was fourth in the nation for an increase in reckless driving accidents. See:
Indiana and Illinois: Deadliest Driving Conditions for Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents.
5. Employers’ Failure to Protect Workers
There are safety laws and regulations provided both by federal statute and state law which serve to protect workers on the job, particularly those working in road construction zones. Sadly, profits get in the way of companies making a sufficient effort to keep their people safe and as a result, workers in road work zones are seriously injured or killed. See:
OSHA Pushes Employers on Reporting On the Job Injuries: Will Workers Be Safer at Work?
2017 OSHA Top Ten List of Safety Violations
OSHA and Work-Related Accident Claims in Indiana and Illinois
Justice for Victims of Work Zone Accident
If you or a loved one were hurt in a work zone accident, then an investigation may be warranted in order to determine the parties who were at fault and negligently caused the injuries.
In some work zone accidents, a distracted driver is to blame for what has happened. In other situations, it may be debris on the roadway, or construction equipment malfunction. There is no single reason for fatal work zone accidents.
State laws provide help to work zone accident victims under the laws of negligence, strict liability, respondeat superior, product liability, and more. Which law applies will depend upon an analysis of the particular accident and its factual investigation.
Sadly, sometimes wrongful death laws may come into play to provide support to grieving loved ones of an accident victim who died in a work zone accident.
Construction has begun on the roadways of Indiana and Illinois and work zone dangers face all of us! Let’s be careful out there!
