23-04-2025
VDOT encouraging importance and significance of National Work Zone Awareness week
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – According to statistics from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), crashes and injuries in work zones were down in Virginia from 2023 to 2024. Still, the number of people killed increased from 13 to 15.
This week is Work Zone Awareness week, and it's the perfect time for the department to remind folks about safe driving practices in or around work zones. What started in Bristol, Virginia around 25 years ago, quickly spread across the nation.
The message is to slow down when approaching work zone signs, cones or amber lights, and to pay attention to the road at all times, especially when workers' lives are on the line.
'The work zone is their office,' Jen Ward, the spokesperson of VDOT's Salem district, said. 'This is what they do every day, and working inside that work zone can be very dangerous and can also be scary.'
Annetta Sherman has worked in these areas with VDOT for 22 years as a transportation operator.
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She said she loves the job because it's outdoors but starts every morning with a prayer to hope everything remains okay.
'You have young people, old people and middle-class people that drive, and some are more experienced than others,' Sherman said. 'It's just hoping it's a good day, that everybody pays attention to our warning signs before they approach us.'
Work Zone Awareness week usually falls around this time of the year to line up with the start of a lot of major construction projects.
That includes Tuesday morning's mobile work zone on Plantation Road, where crew members sprayed fresh paint on the road markings. Warning signs helped remind drivers the consequences of passing these vehicles.
'Number one, if you pass over the wet paint, you're going to get paint on your car.' Sherman said. 'Number two, if you just be patient, we'll get you to your turn lane.'
Virginia's Scott's Law requires drivers to slow down or move over a lane when approaching any vehicle with flashing, blinking or alternating blue, red or amber lights, to protect workers and first responders on the highway.
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