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Seven people have died in accidents in work zones along Virginia's roads so far this year--as many as died in all of last year, according to the state transportation department.
The American Traffic Safety Services Association of Stafford would like to see that number fall dramatically.
Toward that end, the organization has created a work-zone-safety curriculum that will show up in Stafford County driver-education classes in the fall.
The organization also hopes to incorporate its information into the state's driver-improvement clinics, which are taken by motorists who have received traffic tickets.
"People see work zones out there as a hindrance to them. It bottles up traffic," said Stafford sheriff's Sgt. Brian Jacobs, who previewed ATSSA's program with several other deputies. "If they knew more about the work zones--that the people are out there to make the traffic better--maybe they'd slow down.
"It's not just equipment out there," Jacobs said. "Those are human beings out there."
ATSSA has championed several nationwide efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of work zones. Last year, the agency began sponsoring a traveling monument that features the names of motorists, construction workers, pedestrians, law enforcement officers, rescue workers and even children killed in the nation's work zones.
Donna Clark, ATSSA's director of training and products, said the organization developed its latest PowerPoint presentation to teach people how to recognize work zones and how to travel through them safely.
She shared the video with several Stafford sheriff's deputies, who suggested ways to improve the presentation. She also showed it to Stafford High School driver-ed teacher Peggy Perry, who passed it on to Carol Lysher, coordinator of driver-education programs for Stafford County schools.
Lysher said the program does a good job of emphasizing the human element--that there are people with families working in those zones, not just construction cones.
"I think it's good to highlight the work-zone areas, especially to students here," she said. "No matter where you drive, you're going to run into construction. Anything that draws attention to being more safe around construction sites to me is very good."
The Virginia Department of Transportation already recruits road workers to speak to students learning to drive, said David Rush, VDOT's work-zone-safety coordinator. The video will help drive home the point, he said.
"It's one thing for the teacher to stand up and read from a book about work zones," he said. "It's another thing to have a contractor come in and say, 'We're out there. We've got only cones protecting us from high speeds.'"
ATSSA is talking with the state Department of Motor Vehicles about offering a four-hour course in work-zone safety to motorists who are caught speeding in work zones, Clark said. As it is, the state is scheduled to increase speeding fines in those zones from $250 to $500 on July 1.
Construction zones are so common now that drivers may not even notice how fast they are driving through them, Clark said. Educating motorists will hopefully decrease accidents even as the number of work zones increases, she said.
"They're everywhere," she said, "and they're only going to get worse."