Those telltale orange cones, barrels, and signs often create a sense of dread and annoyance for drivers, causing tempers to flare. It is easy for drivers and passengers to become impatient and agitated in slow work zone traffic. That is because Americans lose nearly 1 billion hours and burn over 500 million extra gallons of fuel each year while they are stuck in traffic jams and delays in work zones.

The need to repair our roads is real, and that need will always continue. As a result, thousands of collisions occur each year which unnecessarily hurt or kill many drivers, passengers, and those workers who spend their days in harm’s way repairing and replacing our roads. Before we tell you how to stay safe, consider these statistics about why work zones require extra caution:

In 2015 alone, nearly 100,000 automobile crashes occurred in work zones in the United States and over 70% of those wrecks involved multiple vehicles.
Most of those crashes, nearly 70%, occurred during daylight hours.
Over 25,000 people were injured in wrecks that occurred in work zones in 2015.
In 2015 alone, over 600 fatalities were reported in automobile crashes in work zones.
Tips to Stay Safe:
When you see the orange cones and signs, SLOW DOWN, pay attention, and obey the speed limit! Speeding can be costly and fines often increase in work zones.
Try to keep a good attitude and positive outlook. The construction and the delays will pass in time.
Concentrate and avoid distractions. Though you might think your smartphone will help you pass the time, it greatly increases your risk of being in a collision. It can also have legal consequences in many states, including West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Click here for more details.
Pay attention to flaggers and other people directing traffic. Their instructions supersede posted or implied traffic signals. Keep an eye out for them when you see signs that say “Flagger Ahead” and be ready to follow the instructions given.
Distance is your friend. Leave plenty of room between your car and the car in front of you.
In the end, there is nothing fun about being stuck in construction traffic, daily, for what might seem like an eternity. Just remember, it will pass. However, poor decisions, impatience, distracted driving, and speeding can have lasting effects. Those actions can hurt you, your family, other motorists, and workers. Bad decisions can also cost you in terms of fines, along with increased insurance rates that can last for years. Take the time to protect everybody on the road. The life you save might be your own.

While you can only control your own actions, you should drive defensively and try to protect yourself and your family from those impatient, discourteous, and distracted drivers who break traffic laws and cause thousands of collisions in work zones each year. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being injured by one of those bad drivers, despite your best efforts otherwise, remember that we are here to help. Our lawyers have decades of experience in helping people who have been injured in motor vehicle wrecks throughout the Tri-State Area.

For more information about your personal injury case, we invite you to call us at (304) 521-4021 to discuss how we can help you. You can also visit our Personal Injury page for more information.