Speakers at the TxDOT conference from left to right are Jackie Robinson, Jean Dark, Tracy Monds, Jeffrey Hamon, and Jimmy Toler

In observance of National Work Zone Awareness week, TxDOT held a conference Wednesday morning to promote work zone safety and remember the lives that were lost in 2014. There was a moment of silence for the TxDOT employees who lost their lives in work-related incidents.

“I wish people would just put down the phone and drive,” Jackie Robinson, state contract manager with In-Line traffic maintenance. “In Tyler, there were four fatalities with TxDOT employees that could have been prevented.”

At the media event, 146 orange cones sat on the lawn of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Tyler District in representation of the people killed in Texas work zones in 2014. The importance of work zone safety was the focus of the event. The two leading causes of crashes in work zones are drivers not paying attention and failure to control speed. 

“Several years ago, a 19-year-old female flagger went out that morning with a crew, and they set everything up right, but a 91-year-old man hit her and killed her,” Robinson said. “He said he never saw her and never saw the signs. That was one of our dark moments in this industry.”

With more than 2,500 active work zones at any given time in Texas, you can expect to see roadside workers and vehicles when you travel on Texas roads. TxDOT is asking drivers to slow down, pay attention and obey all traffic signs so we can all get home. 

“We can help keep the road ways safe through enforcement and education, but  at the end of the day, it’s the individual drivers who hold the key to safe travel in those work zones, ” Trooper Jean Dark, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said.