Beware: Patrollers Step Up Cone Zone Enforcement

Expect to see a lot of orange popping up along freeways this summer throughout the US and Canada.

No, not poppies. It’s the construction zone cones warning drivers of road hazards and construction projects.

In California, the California Highway Patrol has initiated the "Be Work Zone Alert" construction awareness campaign. The campaign features billboards and ads with the children of road-construction employees asking that drivers 'Be alert...my mom (dad) is at work.'

“All it takes is a split-second of inattention to destroy the lives of so many people,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow.

Highway construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. The risk of death is seven times higher for highway workers than for average workers in any other industries, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations.

“Work zone collisions saddle our state with millions of dollars in unnecessary costs, not to mention the tragic—and preventable—loss of life,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “The children of our workers are proud of their parents and are asking all drivers to help keep workers safe by staying alert in highway work zones.”

Similar campaigns such as “Click It or Ticket” and “Slow for the Cone Zone” have led to a reduction in collisions, injuries and fatalities on California’s highways. Still, work zone collisions continue to burden the state. The most recent data indicates California was saddled with $185 million in economic costs related to such crashes, on top of the loss of life.