CLEVELAND — Their concerns are voiced yearly, but many road workers say their pleas to drivers continue to fall on deaf ears. As we recognize National Work Zone Awareness Week, those who work on our roads hope at least one driver will consider their lives.
"These are fathers, mothers, sons, siblings. These are people that want to get home safely just like the rest of us," said Ferzan M. Ahmed, executive director of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission.
The stats prove it. Here in Ohio, there were 4,628 work zone-related crashes in 2022, and 21 of them were deadly, with 23 lives lost.
While no road workers were killed last year, the level of injury and risk they face depends on the speed zone.
"I've got one of those guys who was injured on a main service street in a suburb. Now, thankfully, his injury wasn't bad. He's back to work. But I'm going to tell you the rest of your life, you know, it's hard to shake that," said Colin Sikon, VP of Laborers Local Union 860.
The effect of a deadly 2012 crash in Fremont still lingers in the back of Nathan Overmyer's head. The road maintenance worker had just joined the industry a year before.
"A truck driver came into the zone just after I was done flagging," said Overmyer. "He came in, hit the zone truck and wiped and killed our assistant foreman, and the other two gentlemen that were up there sustained injuries where they never were able to return back to work."
Overmyer says despite the orange barriers, flaggers, slowed speed limits and work zone warnings, many drivers ignore it all.
Just last year, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers wrote 4,477 work zone citations, and 35 percent of them were speeding at least 20 miles over the posted limit.
While the faith in drivers to become more vigilant is low for some, the importance of education and awareness still needs to be addressed.
"Oftentimes, motorists aren't viewing these folks for what they are. These maintenance workers, anyone that calls the roadway their workplace, they're keeping us safe; they are keeping us moving to do what we need to do with our families. We just need to do our part to make sure they get home to theirs," said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ray Santiago.
"People need to be extra vigilant and understand that there are people working behind these barrels. This is the office for 1,300 people," said Ahmed.
"Take a moment to think about the other people that you don't think your life affects," said Overmyer.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
