Inspired by the death of an Indiana traffic control flagger, Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) this week introduced a resolution to recognize National Work Zone Awareness Week, which takes place April 17-21.

Ben Fisher was struck and killed in 2019 while working for a traffic control company on Indiana State Road 13, according to a statement from Braun’s office. The statement also notes the increase in work zone fatalities nationwide since 2006 and the goal of increasing awareness of the hazards of work zones for drivers, workers and pedestrians, and the value of training.

“Far too many road workers and emergency servicemen are injured and killed each year by automobile drivers. Ensuring the safety of these essential men and women is a no-brainer, and I’m excited to join Sen. Blumenthal to introduce legislation that raises awareness about making America’s roads less hazardous for everyone,” Braun said in announcing the resolution.

ATSSA’s 2023 Legislative Briefing & Fly-In offers members the opportunity to play a role in advocating for roadway safety at the national level.

This annual event, which is an exclusive member benefit, takes place April 18-19 in Washington, D.C. Members will have the opportunity to deliver roadway safety solutions to the Capitol Hill offices of lawmakers and their staffs, who craft policy that affects the roadway safety infrastructure industry for years to come.

Both House and Senate office buildings are fully open to visitors this year.

The 2023 Legislative Briefing & Fly-In coincides with National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), which will be held April 17-21 and has the theme, “You play a role in work zone safety. Work With Us.”

Cameron Hutt talked about her father during the National Work Zone Awareness Week national kickoff event this afternoon but much of what she shared she learned secondhand.

Cameron’s father, Chris Hutt, was killed in a work zone incident when she was in kindergarten.

Before his death at age 33, he taught her how to swim, how to tie her shoelaces and her right from her left.

He was a loving father and a good provider but he didn’t get to see the birth of his youngest child or watch the other two grow up because of what Cameron called “the carelessness of two people.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is urging all drivers to slow down and be alert when they see “the first sign of a work zone.”

His statement came today as National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) kicks off across the country. This weeklong national commemoration has been held each year since 2000 at the start of the spring roadway construction season to raise awareness for all motorists.

Statistics show that motorists and their passengers make up the majority of deaths due to work zone crashes. In 2020, the most recent year for which national data is available, 857 people were killed in work zone incidents, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse. Of the 156 pedestrians killed in work zones in 2020, 51 were work zone personnel.

This morning, the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) recognized the importance of roadway worker protection by unanimously approving a policy resolution recognizing National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW). 

While gathered at a conference in Washington, D.C., the NLGA’s Resolutions Committee approved the measure unanimously on Wednesday. The full NLGA voted its support today.

Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long made remarks prior to the approval, noting how critical it is to raise awareness of workers in active work zones and how important it is to do everything possible to provide for safety while making infrastructure improvements.