“Go Orange Day” brings awareness to work zone safety
Wednesday is "Go Orange Day", an initiative that works to bring awareness to the hundreds of people who die every year in the United States in a work zone accident.
The 2022 National Work Zone Awareness Week features several activities surrounding work zone safety. On April 13 people are encouraged to wear orange.
Recent data released by the National Workzone Safety website shows that in 2019 there were 845 work zone deaths nationwide. That number had increased by 1.4% in 2020.
In California alone, the number of work zone deaths jumped by 20% from 2019 to 2020 according to Mitzi Osterhout, COO, and CFO of the American Traffic Safety Services Association.
The Riverside County Department of Transportation said it does what it can to try to decrease the number of accidents and fatalities surrounding its work zones.
This includes major construction happening at night when roads are clearer and having highway patrol participate in construction zone enhancement enforcement. With this enforcement, Mark Lancaster, the Riverside County Department of Transportation said officers sit at the beginning of a construction zone watching out for people speeding or driving recklessly.
Right now Riverside County website shows there are active construction projects in the Coachella Valley to look out for.
Caltrans is also hosting a memorial at the state Capitol on April 28 in front of its Fallen Workers Memorial. It will honor the 189 fallen highway workers who have died since 1921.
