As more and more road crews take to Ohio’s highways this spring, ODOT and the Ohio State Highway Patrol urge that drivers pay extra attention for workers.
Troopers with the Highway Patrol will be out watching for unsafe driving near work zones, as part of National Work Zone Awareness Week. They’re prepared to pull over drivers that aren’t following the law when it comes to driving through an active work zone.
"A lot of the violations are typically speeding violations if they don’t reduce their speeds for the work zones, and also a lot of times they fail to move over or change their lane," said Sgt. Adam Brincefield with the OSHP Van Wert Post.
According to OSHP, here in Ohio, there have been over 600 work zone crashes in 2021 so far. Three of those crashes were fatal. While that’s a statewide statistic, these accidents do happen closer to home.
Back in March, ODOT worker Caleb Varhees’ truck was hit by a semi on I-75. A crew worker that was there that night says it was a very hectic moment for all of them.
"We heard somebody on the radio yell 'I think my ribs are broken', and we all kind of freaked out, like what was going on," said Jennifer Dick with the ODOT Allen County maintenance garage. "We all turned around and realized that Caleb had gotten hit, and was just panic mode as we tried to get a hold of our boss and tried to get the necessary help that he needed."
Those with ODOT say that their workers are just doing their jobs out on the roadways, and ask the public to please be conscious of road crews so they can complete their workday safely.
"We come out here in a dangerous environment every day," said Mark Zielke, transportation manager for the ODOT Van Wert County Garage. "We ask our guys to do good work and they’re doing that work in a dangerous situation, right next to traffic, and we just want that traffic to pay attention, slow down, be careful, and respect that this is our workplace."
"Put all distractions down - phones, computers, anything - just just put it down," Dick said. "We all just want to go home at night."
