ODOT Rolls Out National Work Zone Awareness Campaign

MARIETTA, OH — This is National Work Zone Awareness Week. This is an annual spring campaign held at the beginning of construction season to raise awareness of the need for drivers to take care when they see a work zone. The Ohio Department of Transportation is participating again this year. ODOT District 10 Public Information Officer Ashley Rittenhouse said people need to drive safely in general, "But especially in work zones."

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She said people need to remember that they have ODOT crews and contractors out there working all the time. "The bottom line is just like me and you, they want to go home to their families at the end of the day. They're just out there doing their jobs." Rittenhouse explained that drivers really need to do their part while they're behind the wheel.

The idea is to draw attention to the problem of work zone crashes. "Work zone crashes, unfortunately, are too common of a problem." She says currently in 2021 there have already been 603 work zone crashes. "That includes three fatal crashes." There have been 62 ODOT crews struck this year. "Remember, we're only in the month of April."

And construction season is just really starting. "To see this many crashes is alarming and disturbing." This is why they're putting up signage and really trying to get the word out. They really want drivers to know they could be putting road crews in danger. Their slogan this year is "Move over, slow down." And that isn't just a recommendation, it's the law.

The move over law says that when you see a vehicle with flashing lights you have to move into a lane of traffic farther away, but if you can't do so safely, you have to slow down. This goes for ambulances, tow trucks, work crews. "You are required to move over a lane," Rittenhouse says all too often they're seeing people not obey this law. "Our workers see all kinds of things every day. People on the phone, eating, applying makeup, basically everything but paying attention to the road."

The campaign for National Work Zone Awareness Week will be going on until April 30. And the message is simple. "Pay attention and be extra careful in those work zones."

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