NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is joining states nationwide to ask motorists to Work with Us — move over and slow down for highway workers. TDOT will spread that message statewide during National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 20-24) to improve safety in Tennessee’s interstate and highway construction and maintenance work zones. This year’s theme is “Safe Actions Save Lives.”
“Work zone safety is a shared responsibility, whether behind the wheel or working on the side of the road,” said TDOT Commissioner Will Reid, P.E. “We engineer our roads to be as safe as possible, but no amount of engineering can change driver behavior. 113 TDOT workers have been killed in work zones. One is too many. Let’s work together to ensure everyone makes it home safely.”
Last year in Tennessee, there were 2,432 total crashes, 607 with injuries, and 16 people died in work zone crashes. So far this year, there have been 35 incidents in which drivers have crashed into TDOT equipment and vehicles, including HELP Trucks. These are secondary work zones where our HELP patrols and other first responders assist motorists. TDOT now has even more HELP trucks serving Tennesseans through its expansion into rural areas…