AASHTO Journal, 31 August 2012
The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is making steady progress in keeping both workers and drivers safe in work zones.
According to SHA’s 2011 crash data, work zone-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities across Maryland have hit a 10-year low. In just the last three years, deaths in these work zone crashes dramatically decreased—from nine in 2009 to three in 2011. Also through those three years, injuries decreased from 827 to 688, while the number of crashes dropped from 1,685 to 1,486.
Maryland believes there are a number of factors to these decreases, one being the use of the Maryland SafeZones automated speed enforcement program, which issues citations to drivers who exceed the posted speed limit by more than 12 mph in work zones.
“The decrease in work zone crashes and the reduction in citations tell us that the SafeZones cameras are effective and motorists are getting the message to slow down in our highway work zones,” said SHA Administrator Melinda Peters in a statement. “This is not only good news for workers but for motorists as well since the majority of those injured in work zone related crashes are drivers or occupants in passenger vehicles.”
Since the SafeZones program launch in 2010, SHA has cut down on work zone speeding by 80 percent. Before the program, SHA estimates seven of every 100 drivers in a given work zone were speeding. Now, with the use of the program, SHA estimates that number has dropped to an average of less than two work zone drivers out of 100.
“SafeZones is a critical part of our overall work zone safety program, because education of the driving public combined with effective enforcement is a powerful traffic safety tool,” Peters said.
Additional information on SHA’s SafeZones is available at safezones.maryland.gov.