LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – Here in Louisiana and the rest of the country, the Department of Transportation and Development has named this week a national work Zone Awareness Week.
This annual campaign is aimed at raising awareness about the role people can play in keeping motorists and road workers safe. Diedra Druilhet with the D.O.T.D. here in Lafayette, says in Louisiana alone, there were ten fatalities when it comes to road workers being hit while work is being done.
Each of those lives lost is actually represented by the ten traffic cones that you can see in front of the Lafayette office, as well as offices across the entire state.
"Most people, their office is not outside where you have traffic driving by, you know, anywhere between 55, 60, 70 miles per hour. But we have a lot of our crews. That's what they're doing. They're putting their life on the line every single day to work on our roadways. And, of course, we want to make sure that people are cognizant of the fact and are paying attention to those work zone signs that we may have in place," says Druilhet.
With the campaign continuing through the entire week. Druilhet says the department hopes drivers will remember to pay attention when roadwork is being done, follow any traffic signs and avoid any distractions. "The theme for this year, of course, is that work zones are temporary, but the actions that we take behind the wheel can last forever," says Druilhet.
While the campaign only lasts a week, the Department of Transportation hopes the message of keeping drivers and road workers safe will last a lifetime.
