As summer travel peaks across the island, Road Safety at Work is asking motorists to do more to mind their driving during the 11th annual Cone Zone awareness campaign, on now through Aug. 31.
Between 2011 and 2020 in B.C., 207 roadside workers were injured and 12 were killed after being hit by a motor vehicle.
“Roadside work is a dangerous job,” Louise Yako, program director for Road Safety at Work, said in a release. “With regional travel restrictions lifted and more activity on roads, we all need to do our part when driving to make sure roadside workers make it home to their family at the end of their shift without injury.”
READ ALSO: LETTER: Reduced speeds key to road safety
Those injured aren’t limited to construction workers, she said. They include municipal workers, landscapers, flag people, tow truck drivers, road maintenance crews, telecommunications and utility workers, and emergency and enforcement personnel.
“One of the greatest risks to a roadside worker in Victoria is a motor vehicle being driven through their workplace,” Yako said. “Dangerous behaviour like speeding and distracted driving puts workers at risk – and drivers too.”
As per their campaign, Road Safety at Work is reminding the public of driving infraction costs and the province’s “Slow Down, Move Over” law.
The former can range from $368 (for using an electronic device while driving) to $196 (disobeying a flag person or speeding). The latter requires drivers to slow to 70 km/h in speed zones over 80 km/h, or 40 km/h in speed zones under 80 km/h, in the presence of vehicles with red, blue or amber flashing lights such as tow trucks, fire, police or ambulances.
Road Safety at Work is a WorkSafeBC-funded initiative managed by the Justice Institute of BC and has a mandate of reducing work-related motor vehicle crashes, deaths and injuries.
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