More On Work Zone Safety
Posted by
Brooks SchuelkeAugust 05, 2009 9:40 AMI missed the boat. Yesterday, I wrote about the horrific tractor trailer crash near Gainesville, Texas. The wreck, which killed a Bedford, Texas couple and a Louisiana man, occurred near a work zone where traffic was backing up.
In that post, I mentioned the Texas Transportation Institute's National Work Zone Safety Clearinghouse. I should have posted a link to the clearinghouse because it is a wealth of information. In any event, the clearinghouse can be found here.
The website is an almost limitless source of information about construction zone wrecks. For example, I was able to ascertain from the databases linked to the website that in 2007, Texas had 36 fatal trucking wrecks in work zones. That was just over 17% of the nation's total. In 2006, Texas had 41 fatal trucking wrecks in work zones, or just over 15% of the nation's total. In 2005, Texas had 40 fatal trucking wrecks in work zones, or just under 14% of the nation's total. From that, it looks like the safety in work zones is improving, but Texas is not improving as much as the rest of the country.
The website obviously has a lot of information designed to improve the safety of construction zones. For example, it contains driving tips, offers training, and has a library of videos about work zone safety issues.
If you have any interest in work zone safety issues, you should check out the website.