ODOT, OTA encourages motorists to Make it Home Safe; Make Oklahoma Safe with new work zone safety awareness campaign
With a theme of Make it Home Safe; Make Oklahoma Safe, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Turnpike Authority are encouraging motorists to follow a few simple rules of the road such as buckling up, putting away distractions and slowing down inside work zones to help get everyone home safe each day when traveling.
Drivers will see more work zones pop up this spring and summer. In fact, drivers can expect more than 160 active work zones in Oklahoma this summer driving season. These range from short-term maintenance projects with minimal impact to traffic to major interstate reconstruction, which can affect more than 100,000 vehicles per day.
“We have some significant projects starting in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas as well as several impactful construction work zones across the state this summer.
We work hard at keeping work zones safe for motorists and workers but we cannot do it without motorists’ help. We emphatically plead with the public to be our safety partners by paying attention, slowing down and making sure all occupants of a vehicle are buckled up,” said Secretary of Transportation Tim Gatz, who also serves as ODOT and OTA executive director.
Overall, crashes and traffic fatalities are up in Oklahoma and nationwide. The data in Oklahoma shows that drivers and passengers are far more likely than workers to lose their lives in crashes inside work zones. In the past five years, 91 people, including one ODOT worker, were killed and 1,294 people were injured in more than 7,125 collisions in Oklahoma work zones.