State’s Safety Efforts Put Trooper at Fatal Location: Program Attempts to Slow Motorists at Construction Sites

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study shows that 41 percent of fatal accidents at roadway work sites involve motorists. Most are caused by drivers who speed or don’t pay attention to the road. To keep drivers alert to the ongoing work, most major construction projects on Tennessee state highways require the presence of law enforcement officials. As a result of this effort, the number of fatal crashes along Tennessee road construction sites went from 35 in 1998 to 8 in 1999. Injury crashes were down from 1,851 to 558. However, Lynn Ross, a state trooper, who in effect served as the first line of defense, became another of the casualties.