Attorney
A 53-year-old woman was charged with reckless driving when she smashed into two contract workers and caused a construction work zone accident on Interstate 81 last month. One man was critically injured and the other sustained serious injuries during the work zone car crash.
According to the police investigation, the woman’s minivan ran off the northbound lanes of I-81, crashed into a guardrail and sped across the southbound lanes. The minivan then ran off the side of the road and finally struck a cement bridge that two workers were painting. They tried to jump on to the guardrail, but one was grazed by the minivan’s bumper, sustaining injuries. The other contract worker fell 15 feet to an embankment below, sustaining more serious injuries.
How to Drive Safely and Avoid a Construction Work Zone Car Crash
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 4,400 people have died in the past year due to work zone accidents and at least 200,000 people have been injured. Fatal work zone crashes occur most often in the fall and in the summer. That said, drivers need to do the following in order to avoid work zone accidents:
- Stay alert. Focus your full attention on the road. Put away your phone and avoid fiddling with the radio or other settings while driving in a work zone.
- Put your headlights on. Even if it is daylight, you should still try to make yourself visible to workers.
- Slow down. Make sure to reduce your speed in a construction work zone, as it is likely there will be unexpected detours or workers on site.
- Pay attention. Look for instruction signs on how to proceed. Make sure to watch the brake lights on the cars ahead. Be prepared to react quickly to any given situation.
- Merge quickly. Try to merge into the proper lane before you arrive at the lane closure and be aware that traffic patterns can change quickly on a work zone site.
How Our Virginia Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help
Construction workers on the road are taking a great risk to maintain roads and ensure that our travels remain smooth. The least we can do as drivers is try to avoid a collision with them.
The Virginia personal injury attorneys at Koonz McKenney Johnson & DePaolis LLP help victims who have sustained injuries or lost loved ones in construction accidents. Contact us today to speak to one of our attorneys.