Last September’s avalanche of hundreds of new state laws included an expansion of the “Slow Down, Move Over” law relating to emergency vehicles. It was expanded to create fines if drivers didn’t slow down or move over as they passed active TxDOT work zones. Our Houston construction zone accident lawyers note that the law was apparently a reaction to the increased number of TxDOT workers being injured or killed in construction zone crashes due to careless or speeding drivers.
But 84% of those who die in work zone crashes are actually the careless drivers themselves. And a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America found that 45% of highway work zones had at least one crash occur there.
Just last year in Texas, 17,266 crashes in TxDOT work zones resulted in 115 deaths and 3,522 serious injuries. That doesn’t even begin to account for the myriad of other non-TxDOT work and construction zones that you probably see on your daily drive. In 2012, the FMCSA said that heavy trucks and buses alone contributed to 132 fatal wrecks in work zones. (Dug Begley, blog.chron.com, 4/8/14)
The Houston construction zone accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC understand that sudden slow-downs occur as vehicles reach construction zone bottlenecks. And that these sudden changes in traffic speed often result in distracted, fatigued, or drunken drivers continuing at speed and ramming into the vehicles in front of them. This sometimes forces vehicles off the road and into the workers in the zones. Then secondary wrecks occur as people try to avoid the first accident or rubberneck to get a better look.
TxDOT, federal transportation officials, and contractors all remind drivers to be alert as they enter construction zones. Slow down and drive carefully to avoid workers, cone barriers, and other obstacles, as well as the holes and pavement drop-offs relating to the construction.
All construction zone accidents and the 84% of driver fatalities that occur in these crashes are avoidable with a little extra care as you drive. Our Houston construction zone accident lawyers urge you to be aware and steer clear. Slow down and move over when you come to a work zone. It’s the law; but it’s also just good sense for your own safety. Click the link to read about a fiery fatal Houston truck wreck that may have been related to construction zone traffic dynamics.