Despite Ad Campaigns, Work on Roads Still Risky: But Drivers Learning to Slow down for Safety

In 2000, there were 5,358 collisions in state highway work zones, which resulted in 47 fatalities and 2,708 injuries. Since 1972, a total of 157 Caltrans workers have died on the job. The department is planning to expand the ad campaign, which is currently only aired in Northern California. In the meantime, at a partnership between University of California at Davis and Caltrans, researchers are studying ways to apply high technology to highway work, making it safer and more efficient. The center has developed a prototype of a machine called a “Cone Shooter”. This new technology would automatically place and retrieve the cones from the roadway.