Distractions in a Mobile Work Zone

By Ted C. Coleman

I've witnessed many distracted motorists who have caused accidents in the Wichita Metro area during mobile traffic control work zones with TMA/Crash Attenuators while pot hole patching. It’s a dangerous occupation any time your job site is just a few feet away from fast moving traffic. It only takes a couple of seconds for distracted motorists to cause things to get a little too exciting. (That’s one heck of an understatement if you ask me!)... lol.

Anytime you step out of your vehicle during a mobile work zone you must pay attention to everything that is going on around you. Even though we have flashing warning lights, and road work action signs posted on our TMA/Crash Attenuator trucks while pot hole patching, we still encounter those texting while driving and other distractions which have become a major concern to us public service workers.

Dedicated KDOT and/or construction workers work hard to build and maintain the roads and bridges relied on every day to get the traveling public to their destination safely. The least the traveling public can do to improve work zone safety is to take the foot off the gas and keep their eyes on the road in work zones. Drivers must pay extra attention in mobile work zones, which means putting away cell phones and watching out for any changes to normal road conditions.

Speeding and distracted driving through stationary or mobile work zones is dangerous and at times, has proven deadly for motorists and public works employees.

As a supervisor I tell my crew that while they are performing their job in a work zone, they have to keep their head in the game and stay alert, use caution, never turn your back on traffic, be responsible and always be mindful of your surroundings.

The lives of KDOT and construction workers and the motoring public are all at stake in the work zone. We enthusiastically welcome the stepped up traffic enforcement the KHP Troopers provide against speeding in work zones, because our TMA/Crash attenuators, flashing warning lights, road work action signs, traffic cones alone do not protect against distracted, impaired or speeding drivers. At the end of the day we want to make sure that every worker goes home in one piece to their loved ones.

Ted C. Coleman is a Public Service Administrator/Highway Supervisor at the KDOT Wichita East office.

Aim High

By David Howard

As a contractor working on rural highway projects across the Midwest, we have for years delivered a proprietary training program to our full time staff to promote safe driving skills.  This program emphasizes five keys to safe driving, with one key being to aim high when driving.   

Simply put, the driver is instructed to look up toward the horizon of the roadway in front of them, not just the roadway immediately in front of them.   Practicing this technique quickly verifies the value…our vision picks up what is immediately in front of us when we dedicate our focus to the horizon, but the opposite is not true.  

I, along with the men and women I work with in highway construction work zones, have seen all too often what can occur when a driver is not aiming high with their vision.   Slow or stopped traffic within our work zones can be missed by a driver that is not aiming high until it is too late, and the results can truly be catastrophic.  

I am very proud of how seriously our employees take safety, but I know we are a part of a small group of our population that truly understands how all alone we feel when an accident occurs on a rural highway and we, men and women simply doing our jobs building or repairing highways, must do what we wish to never do…become first responders to an accident.

Please let that first orange “Road Construction Ahead” sign you see be a reminder to aim high.

 David Howard is the President/CEO of Koss Construction Company.

Very Close Calls

Hello, my name is Marcus Leck, and I am the KDOT Area Maintenance Superintendent in Independence. As I talk to new employees, my first line of advice is to always expect the unexpected, never take your eyes off approaching traffic and always keep a clear escape route because you will need it at some point.

As a Superintendent and a KDOT employee, there was one near miss that scared me as bad as I have ever been. It was one of those near misses that makes your stomach jump up in your throat and leaves an empty feeling that no one ever wants to feel, especially a supervisor, when the injury can involve one of your employees.

We had closed U.S. 169 highway east of Independence at the request of Kansas Highway Patrol at the U.S. 160 junction because of a fatality accident. It was extremely foggy and in the middle of the night.  We had flagmen in four different locations. 

 Just west of the accident scene, Larry Walker and Steve Shepard were working the flagging station when an errant driver failed to stop and blew through their flagging station.   As I stood with the Trooper a quarter-mile to the east at the accident scene, all we could hear was the car that did not stop, the sound of cones being run over, and the uncertainty of knowing if that sound was one of our coworkers. 

The Trooper and I took off running towards the flagging station where we were met by an oncoming car rolling to a stop just short of the Troopers’ car. I continued on towards the flagging station where I was met by a very upset Mr. Walker.   Larry was quick to explain what happened and that he and Steve were fine. I will never forget the feeling I felt at that time as it was bitter sweet, scared to death still but such a relief knowing your employees were OK.  

The driver had gone past all the work zone warning signs and all the cones and even ran over part of the cones and still gave a statement that neither she nor her boyfriend saw any warning signs. Luckily Steve and Larry expected the unexpected, never took their eyes off approaching traffic and always kept a clear escape route to get out of the way.

We constantly receive complaints from stopped motorists after they about run over us that we ought to have signs out, or why we didn’t have warnings for them of the closed road back at the junction, etc. As part of our jobs, we always act professionally explaining you must have missed the six signs that you drove past, or the 15 cones along the center line, or you drove past a variable message board at the junction explaining to you that the road was closed ahead but we will make sure all of them are still in place and have not blown over.

On the flip side of some of our complaints, occasionally we will have the public offer a hand wave and say thanks. These types of gestures sure make the job seem worthwhile and make the day go by much faster.

Providing safety to EVERYONE inside the work zone is the most important job we do daily. And awareness is the best form of safety that anyone can display in keeping everyone safe.

As I close, please remember no matter which part of a work zone you are in, PLEASE always expect the unexpected and pay attention – at the end of the day, we all want to arrive home safe.