Every year in the spring, transportation organizations coordinate National Work Zone Awareness Week in an effort to make drivers aware of the dangers of distracted driving in road work zones.
While the National Work Zone Awareness Week kicks off today, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) started its statewide Work Zone Awareness Week with a commencement event Monday in Jefferson City.
Sally Oxenhandler, MoDOT's customer relations manager, said the kickoff event featured speeches from MoDOT employees about the importance of work zone safety, as well as a representative of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, who talked about their efforts to partner with MoDOT to provide law enforcement aid to ensure drivers follow work zone laws.
Scott Campbell, a MoDOT employee, spoke at the event about his close call in a work zone last year, when a driver collided with the truck he was in. Mike Schupp, a MoDOT engineer based in Central Missouri, said "he (Campbell) was driving one of our trucks with an attenuator behind it ... and the first indication he had of anything going on was screeching tires. He looked in the mirror and it was too late, the vehicle ran right into the back of the truck."
Oxenhandler said a re-telling of Campbell's story is available on their YouTube page, MoDOTCentral.
"We're using that avenue to tell his story, and make it personal that nine people were killed in work zones last year ... That's very personal, when you talk about the fact that nine people are not with us today because of work zone incidents."
MoDOT has more events planned for the week, including a call for people to wear orange in support of work zone safety, as well as appearances by their mascot Barrel Bob around work zones in Mid-Missouri.
"We put him in high-visibility areas where we can draw attention and remind folks to drive carefully in work zones," Oxenhandler said.
As part of Work Zone Awareness Week, Barrel Bob's smaller counterpart, Baby Bob, is stationed near the children's play area in the Columbia Mall. Oxenhandler said people visiting the mall are encouraged to take selfies with Baby Bob and post them on social media to "get the chatter going about work zone safety."
National Work Zone Awareness Week was first conceived in 1999, as part of traffic organizations' efforts to reduce work zone incidents. Each year is given a theme tied to road safety. This year's theme, Expect the Unexpected, was the original theme used in the first National Work Zone Awareness Week.
Schupp said the weeklong event's message of work zone safety is an important one, especially after months of little to no road work in the winter.
"Coming into construction season, we want people to start paying attention to the roads, paying attention to the signs and try to avoid distracted driving," he said.
Oxenhandler said Work Zone Awareness Week is to remind drivers how important it is to be alert and obey the speed limit in work zones, along with buckling up and refraining from cellphone use, "just trying to remind them that distracted driving is very dangerous and can result in injuries or possibly death."
"We want our workers to return home just like they came to work: safe and unharmed," Schupp said.
Missouri's Work Zone Awareness Week takes place from March 23 to March 27.