WHAT IS GOING ON?

Contributed by Sandy Paquette, Trainer, Evergreen Safety Council

Every morning and evening during my commute I fear for my life!

Each day we travel to our jobs, some people always travel to the same location, some to varied locations in a week. Some of our jobs are considered high risk (dangerous), some are lower risk. For over 20 years my job was to direct traffic through work zones. You would think all of the crazy drivers I have witnessed would prepare me for my commute, not a chance. I am more fearful during my commute then when standing on the road directing traffic. At least I can see what is coming at me when I am directing traffic. When commuting you have to worry about what may appear out of no-where, or cut me off, or force me to speed to change lanes to get out-of-the-way.

Just this morning: 24 out of the 30 vehicles (both company and private) that I counted were going 65mph to 70mph. I wonder if the employers of these “professional” drivers realize that this type of driving behavior is occurring. These speeders are cutting in front of vehicles, switching lanes, tailgating, merging over the solid white lines and passing on the right just to get a few more feet down the road (me-first mentality),and then having to slam on their brakes. Why?

I can only guess that these types of drivers have never been involved in a serious injury crash or perhaps have never lost someone to a fatal crash.

The fact of the matter is, no matter how high or low risk the job is, a lot of us still have to commute to or for them. Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the number one cause of work related fatalities year after year.

Here are a few statistics:

• The most common day of the week for crashes, Wednesday and Thursday.
• The most common day of the week for fatal crashes is Friday and Saturday evenings.
• The most common time of the day for crashes is during the work week afternoon rush hour 2 – 7 pm.
• The most common weather conditions are clear and sunny days.

Visit the Evergreen Safety Council’s website for additional information on driver safety classes and events, as well as other worker place safety training options, and consider having your teen drivers attend Ford’s Driving Skills for Life which is free to all drivers. Fords’ event will be August, but you must register soon.

Don’t let you or your family or workers become a crash statistic 2010.