The City of Lexington has launched a campaign to remind motorists to drive safely through work zones. Chris Van Brackel is a lieutenant with the Lexington Police Department who’s been with the department for nearly 25 years. He said the campaign is about protecting work crews – and motorists.
“When you get into that work zone, you're also likely to encounter very big, very solid, very immovable road equipment. And we've also got the other drivers around us that are having to maneuver in what is usually tighter spacing.”
According to a news release from the mayor’s office, in Kentucky in 2022, there were more than a thousand work-zone-related crashes, resulting in 271 injuries and 6 deaths. Among the accidents Van Brackel has worked is a work zone fatality that occurred when a driver hit a stopped piece of construction equipment.
“If this driver had been traveling a little bit slower and had a little bit more reaction time, perhaps they would have realized that that equipment was there and not hit it.”
Van Brackel said aside from protecting motorists and work crews, there’s another reason to obey speed limits in work zones: doubled fines.
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