New York City Work Zone Accidents

Highway work zones are one of the most dangerous places for both drivers and highway construction workers. Problems motorists and workers need to be aware of include the following:

• Improperly placed or set up barricades, barriers placed in the wrong position
• Pavement drop offs, especially hazardous to motorcyclists
• Improper traffic stops including stops too near blind curves which do not allow drivers time to react to traffic slowdowns and stoppages
• The lack of nationwide standards for safety in work zones—one state for example addresses pavement drop-offs with a mandate that drop-offs of three inches or more should not be left in place while another state’s regulations state that drop-offs need not be addressed unless they are greater than five feet in height.
• Construction machinery/vehicles being left parked too close to the roadway
• Improper signage/marking of construction areas
• Obsolete lane markings that are left in place after construction has moved to another location
• The failure to post or display adequate warning signs/signals
• Flaggers not paying attention or giving misleading signals
• Missing or defective pavement markings
• Poorly designed lane closures, etc.

200,000 people were injured in work-zone accidents during the five years prior to 2009. In that same time frame there were 4,700 work zone fatalities, proving that work zones can turn into death traps for motorists and construction workers.

Nationwide there are few penalties levied against contractors when safety guidelines are ignored or violated. Dangerous, unsafe practices often go uncorrected. Many work-zone accidents are preventable/avoidable. Many cannot be explained away by simple driver error or driver distraction.

President Obama’s stimulus package of $27 billion means a boom in highway construction which federal transportation officials are worried will result in even more work-zone fatalities. Highway construction to replace aging roadways and bridges built during the interstate highway boom of the late sixties and seventies is expected to increase 33 percent; the number or work zones will increase proportionately. Transportation officials focus on drivers primarily. States have doubled fines for speeding in work zones and have enforced stiffer penalties for distracted or impaired driving. 85 percent of fatalities in work zones are motorist fatalities. Federal transportation officials have carefully tracked the ways accidents are caused by drivers such as speeding, impaired, or distracted driving. Contractors and state highway planners as well as road construction crews are also at fault in causing work-zone accidents/unsafe work-zone conditions.

The Federal Highway Administration usually defers dictating safety practices to individual states, but recently they have begun work-zone regulation proposing stricter rules for the use of electronic signaling devices and flaggers’ signaling procedures, for example. Due to the lack of federal regulations in place, the states primarily rely on the federal highway agency’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Road builders must follow this manual, and states are required to adopt either it or their own comparable safety manual for all federally budgeted road projects. The police are not usually trained to recognize work-zone problems/safety issues. More than 50 fatalities occurred in work zones in the U.S in the years 2007 and 2008. Inspectors are needed—outside consultants—to make sure road builders comply with safety standards. The main enforcement tool of the states is to withhold payment of contractors, but that is rarely done.

In one year alone, 2009, there were 46 work-zone fatalities in the state of California, 95 fatalities in Texas, 82 fatalities in Florida, 10 in New Jersey, and 6 in the state of New York. Nationwide there were 33,141 fatalities outside work zones and 667 work-zone accident fatalities.

New drivers are especially at risk when they encounter unfamiliar traffic patterns and hazards in highway work zones.

• Reduction in lane width
• Reduction in the number of lanes available to traffic and a proportional increase in traffic congestion
• Absence of median/shoulder areas which ordinarily function as safety valve areas and provide some room for driver error
• Change of lane pattern
• Changing speed limits—there is 24-hour-per-day enforcement of speed limits within highway work zones. Work-zone speed restrictions/limits are enforced even when no road work is taking place.
• Construction vehicles parked or idling beside the highway
• Vision obstructions
• Unusual detours such as detours to bridges which usually carry traffic in the opposite direction while new bridges are being constructed to replace old bridges
• Motor vehicle operators and truck drivers merging in panic at the last possible point
• Slow-moving construction vehicles
• Highway construction workers standing alongside the traffic lane who are focused on their jobs more than on approaching vehicle traffic
• Drivers suddenly braking in front of you
• Drivers who are acting aggressively, ignoring the danger and restrictions of work zones
• Mobile work zones such as mowing crews, pothole patching operations, and line painting

• As you approach a work zone, you will see a “flagger ahead” warning sign. That is your signal to reduce speed and prepare to stop suddenly.
• You may be ticketed for failure to obey a flagger’s instructions. Obey the flagger; respect his or her authority as if he or she were a police officer directing traffic.
• Slow your speed as soon as signs tell you to do so.
• Obey all diamond-shaped warning signs, usually orange in color.
• Leave additional space between your car and the car in front of you. Rear-end collisions are the most common type of collisions in and near work zones.
• Use the three second rule as a minimum measurement of space between you and the vehicle in front of you.
• If you are aware through media, radio, satellite radio reports of the presence of a work zone, anticipate delays and try to plan an alternative route for safety, convenience and drive time to your destination.
• Until you see a sign posted to let drivers know they are approaching the end of the work zone, continue to maintain a safe speed and watch for warning signs, obstructions, machinery, workers, etc.

If you or someone you love has been injured or if a loved one has been killed in a work-zone related accident due to the negligence of another. Contact the law firm of David Resnick & Associates, PC, we serve accident victims in the metropolitan New York area and beyond.

Please call (212) 279-2000 or fill out our online contact form.

These Hubs are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Professional legal counsel should be sought for specific advice relevant to your circumstances.