The Summer issue of Roadway Safety magazine is now online and focuses on work zone awareness efforts nationwide.

From the national event in Virginia to member photos from across the country to expert insights into planning a National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) event, the magazine addresses this key industry safety effort.

Plus, this issue celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the National Work Zone Memorial, offers insights about supply chain challenges, and delves into the pitfalls of gas tax suspensions.

Check out three tools to help protect roadway workers on the job and much more in the Summer issue of Roadway Safety magazine, the flagship publication of the American Traffic Safety Services Association.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) takes the first step in activating its variable speed zone along Interstate 95 in the Fredericksburg region today.

New LED signs that can display variable speed limits will be illuminated for the first several days with the 65-70 mph limit to give drivers time to adjust to the presence of the signs, VDOT announced. The system will be fully activated on June 22, at which point speed limits could be anywhere between 35 mph and 70 mph.

ATSSA examined variable speed zones in the Winter 2022 issue of Roadway Safety magazine in an article that analyzed their use in multiple states. The article, “Do They Improve Safety?” reviewed details of how the new VDOT variable speed zone will work and how the zones have been used elsewhere in Virginia and in regions across the country.

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.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (March 31, 2022) – The transportation industry is taking increasing steps to improve the timeliness of information about active work zones but even before those measures are available nationwide, work zone warnings are important for everyone to heed to get home safely.

This year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 11-15 with the theme: “Work Zones are a Sign to Slow Down.”

National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), in its 22nd year, is a national public awareness campaign held annually at the start of the spring construction season. It spreads the message that we are all responsible for work zone safety.

ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting provided bountiful opportunities to reconnect, explore solutions to roadway safety infrastructure challenges, socialize over pickleball and hear from automotive industry experts.

If you missed it or want to revisit the experience, we’ve posted dozens of photos and you can watch highlights of the general session featuring Tony Reinhart, Ford Motor Company’s director of Government Relations, and Brad Stertz, director of Audi Government Affairs and co-founder and chairman of Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE).

ATSSA’s next big event is the 52^nd Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 11-15.

Executives with Ford and Audi emphasized the importance of collaboration among key stakeholders as connected and autonomous vehicle technology advances.

Tony Reinhart, director of Government Relations for Ford Motor Company, and Brad Stertz, director of Audi Government Affairs and co-founder and chairman of Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE), spoke at this morning’s general session at ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting, which runs through Friday.

After opening remarks, Reinhart and Stertz were joined by ATSSA Board Chair Greg Driskell and ATSSA Vice President of Engagement Nate Smith for a panel that took questions from the group assembled in Kansas City, Mo., for the Midyear Meeting.