National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 6-12: Four out of Five People Killed in Work Zones Are Drivers and Passengers

Across the nation, April 6-12 is being observed as National Work Zone Awareness Week. Officials stress the stark but little-known fact that more than 80 percent of fatalities in highway work zones are drivers and passengers, rather than workers. Oregon continues to buck the national trend with five consecutive years of declines. Since the launch of the Give ‘Em a Brake campaign in 1989, the focus on public awareness has shifted to point out who gets killed in work-zone crashes: drivers and their passengers. In addition, the 1995 Legislature enacted a law that doubles traffic fines in work zones. This law applies to all roads and all types of roadwork, regardless if a “Traffic Fines Double in Work Zones” sign is present. An average of 6,000 hazardous driving violations have been written annually in work zones since the fine-doubling law went into effect in 1995.