Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/692436
Week was "Don't be THAT driver: Work on Safety. Get Home Safely. Every Day." That driver, as the campaign describes via silhouette imagery, is the driver who texts, eats, puts on makeup or has a bout of road rage. Awareness campaigns, signage and fines for distracted driving can only do so much in minimizing work zone deaths and accidents. To help with this battle, the industry is turning to advanced systems featur- ing much of the technology behind the very things that distract so many drivers. Smarter work zones One of the core elements of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) third round of the Every Day Counts (EDC-3) program is the Smarter Work Zones (SWZ) initia- tive. The goal of the initiative is simple: coordinate projects to mini- mize the impact of work zones and use technology applications to man- age traffic in the work zone area. FHWA hopes the result is fewer disruptions to traffic, faster project completion times and improved safety in work zones. The initiative offers a series of webinars, training resources and other tools and will put on field demonstrations in the coming months. The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse serves as the central location for these efforts, located at Workzone- safety.org/swz. The project coordination arm of the SWZ efforts essentially strives June 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 88 highway contractor | continued C lose calls are all too common in road construction. Kansas DOT Hays Area Superintendent Max Dirks witnessed an incident when a large truck had difficulty stopping and nearly hit workers and motorists. "I warned the other flagman over the radio what was happening and then I dove into the ditch," he says. "All I could think about was the eight KDOT equipment operators working on the bridge ... are they hurt?... are they alive?" "Work zone safety and awareness is important every day you drive." Work zone reality Caltrans California Department of Transportation workers paving a section of I-80 near Gold Run. Dirks Photo: Kansas DOT