Editorial: Take the hint; slow down in work zones this summer

Talk about it

Motorists who zip through highway work zones face double fines if they are stopped for speeding. That would seem enough to end all careless driving in these areas, but for some reason, it’s not.

Perhaps that’s why South Dakota Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist has spent time in recent days urging people to slow down as they pass through work zones along the state’s roads and highways. With spring comes road construction season in South Dakota, and we have little doubt that some people still don’t heed the slower speed limits while passing through those dangerous areas.

The Associated Press recently reported a few statistics about work zones, including:

• 85 percent of those killed in highway work zone accidents are drivers and their passengers.

• 667 workers and motorists were killed and more than 40,000 were injured in highway work zones across the nation last year.

We’ve all seen it. Highway workers who are paying attention to their job trust that motorists will pay attention to the slower speed limits, yet someone always seems to be driving faster than is allowed. Sometimes, it’s only a matter of a few feet between that worker and the cars that cruise past. One mistake by either party could prove fatal, and sometimes, they do.

This is National Work Zone Awareness Week, a campaign designed to bring attention to motorist and worker safety in work zones. What began as a small campaign in Virginia has grown to national prominence over the past 14 years, and we’re glad that it has. Anyone who drives the highways during the summer months knows that not everybody is complying with those lowered speed limits in construction areas. Someday, we hope everybody gets the hint.

This spring and summer, set an example and be the driver who slows the pace in the presence of street and highway workers. That hurried driver behind you may not appreciate it, but the workers who are doing that dangerous and necessary task certainly will.

Tags: opinion, updates, editorial, columns