The full article:
“Stanislaus County, CA..At approximately 12:15 p.m. today, Brian Smith, a Caltrans Equipment Operator II, was injured in a work zone incident. The incident occurred on State Route 132 between Paradise Road and Hart Road in Stanislaus County, while crews were performing preventive maintenance on the highway….
Smith is a dedicated 30 year department veteran employee. The maintenance worker was transported to a nearby hospital, and his family is at his side.
Highway construction and maintenance work is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. Caltrans reminds motorists to slow down while driving near a construction or maintenance site, and to remember the “Move Over” law, which was amended in 2009 to add Caltrans vehicles displaying flashing amber warning lights to the list of vehicles for which motorists must move over if safe to do so, or slow down.
For the safety of workers and other motorists, please Slow for the Cone Zone.”
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Sorry we’ve been absent these past few days. A lightning strike knocked out our modem, and we were down for about 24 hours, which caused a backlog in e-mails, which caused, well, you can imagine.
Anyway, we’re back, and to resume, here’s an editorial from Malcolm Dougherty, the acting Caltrans director, and Laurie Berman, Caltrans District 11 director. comprised of Diego and Imperial counties.
From the article:
“Caltrans’ highest priority is the safety of our workers and the motoring public. That is why this summer we initiated regional and statewide safety stand downs to review all of our own safety procedures and analyze the situations to learn how to improve.”
Read the entire article here.
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From the article:
“[Richard] Gonzalez’s death was the third on-the-job fatality of a Caltrans worker in 48 days, the most ever in such a short period of time…”
And this:
“Motorists need to pay attention to what is in front of them at all times,” said Williams California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer John Waggoner Jr. “When you see traffic starting to slow down, then you need to slow down. If you see a sign that says left lane closed ahead, then you need to start making moves to get over into the right lane.”
Waggoner said excessive speed and inattention is the cause of most traffic collisions in construction areas, and several state road projects underway in Colusa and Glenn counties have been the location of numerous traffic collision already, including one Saturday near County Line Road, south of Arbuckle.
“It’s basically a mess down there,” Waggoner said. “And these projects will be going on until September, so motorists need to be cautious.”
Read the entire article here.
Our condolences to the family of Mr. Gonzalez.
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From the article:
“[Caltrans District 4 Butte Co. Supervisor Steve] Lambert…said his office has received several complaints about the construction project.
Lambert drives that stretch everyday, and said it demands that drivers pay attention. “The speed limit was set at 65 mph, and there’s nowhere to go, no margin for error, if you make a mistake.”
Read the entire article here.
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Forcing a mother, pushing a baby stroller no less, and her children into the street seems a little dangerous, don’t you think?
We don’t believe that the work zone described here would meet ADA requirements, which mandate that contractors must provide safe pedestrian access routes (PAR) through construction work zones. If contractors cannot use an existing route, they must provide a temporary pedestrian access route (TPAR).
That said, contractors must use ADA-compliant temporary traffic control devices, or TPAR devices, to provide safe, continuous guidance through the work zone.
We manufacture and market SafetyRail Pedestrian Barricade, an ADA-compliant TPAR device. For more information, please visit www.adabarricade.com, and download our SafetyRail Product & Compliance Guide.
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