West Virginia leaders described a push for greater highway safety at the start of paving season.
“This is my number one priority. This is absolutely my number one priority,” state Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told lawmakers during interim committee meetings.
“Just to go out there and set standard, minimal requirements in these work zones is not good enough. Our goal is zero fatalities in our work zones. This is the most important thing we will ever do.”
That effort begins by urging the public to make every effort to drive safely in work zones, Wriston told members of the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Department of Transportation Accountability.
He also described the establishment of a Work Zone Safety Committee to produce an action plan. Wriston later described working with magistrates to assure the enforcement of steeper fines for speeding in work zones.
Just last month, six highway workers in Maryland were killed when they were hit in a work zone on Interstate 695. Federal transportation officials said two cars were speeding in the zone and then collided as one of the drivers tried to change lanes, sending the other vehicle careening into the work zone.
West Virginia’s transportation secretary appeared with Gov. Jim Justice at an afternoon press conference meant to underscore the message. The governor’s prominent dog attended in an orange road safety vest.
“Is it too much to ask that workers, men and women across this great, great, great state, deserve to be able to get their dinner bucket and go to work but they also deserve to go home safely?” Justice said in remarks at the Capitol.
The governor took note of how vulnerable workers are along highways where motorists might drive at aggressive speeds. “They’re this close to you, and you’re going 70, 80, whatever miles an hour, this close,” Justice said. “Well, just one wrong turn and we have a catastrophe.”
Jason Pizatella, chief executive of the West Virginia contractors Association, also emphasized the need for cautious driving in work zones.
“Our ask is simply this: Slow down, obey the posted work zone speed limit and always stay alert,” he said. “Let’s do our part to make sure these men and women get to work and then back home to their families as soon as possible.
“That text message, that Facebook post or that tweet, it can wait until later. And we hope that motorists who are tempted to speed or are distracted remember that these work zones are someone’s job site. It’s where they work.”