Despite Efforts to Improve Safety Precautions Work Zone Injuries Continue To Be A Concern
Approaching a work zone
As the flowers bloom and the trees leaf out, it’s a familiar sign as any that the warmer months are coming in Massachusetts. A sign nearly as familiar as the vibrant greens on the trees are the equally vibrant orange cones signifying a work zone. In Massachusetts there is only so much appropriate weather to get road work done in a given year, so as the leaves and flowers proliferate so to do the work zones. A great deal of effort goes into making work zones safe, from deploying state and local police, to temporarily dropping the speed limit, to reducing lanes of traffic, it would seem there’s no shortage of methods of increasing safety of workers in these zones, as well as the safety of the drivers passing through them. Yet despite attempts to improve safety precautions accidents involving personal injury and even fatalities continue to happen.
According to statistics from the Federal Highway Administration on average in 2015 a work zone crash occurred once every 5.4 minutes, 70 crashes occurred in a day with at least on resulting in injury, and every week 12 work zone crashes resulted in at least one fatality. The data shows a trend with work zone crashes comparing similarly with non-work zone crashes. The problem is work zones are designed with the intention of reducing the risk for accidents, yet the data shows a negligible reduction in accidents in work zones versus those outside of work zones.
With statistics of work zone related accidents closely mirroring non work zone related accidents, a natural question to ask is what is the recourse for someone suffering from injuries related to a work zone related accident? Unlike a standard car on car collision there are multiple points for consideration in a work zone related accident. Was there clear signage of the work zone? Was the road clear of debris or utility vehicles resulting from the work zone? Was there ample lighting for drivers to navigate through? These are some of the many questions to ask in a work zone related accident. If you are an employee working in a work zone you may also be entitled to worker compensation benefits, entitling you to additional benefits.
Whether you are an employee working in a work zone or a driver passing through, there is risk for injury. Personal Injury Attorney Michael Mehrmann is an expert in negotiating insurance claims resulting from injuries involving work zone negligence. If you, or a loved one who has been injured in such an accident you may be entitled to options for obtaining compensation. Plymouth County personal injury lawyer Michael S. Mehrmann has spent many years helping people from across Plymouth County, including in Kingston, Plymouth, Marshfield, Hanson, Carver, Pembroke, and Duxbury, deal with their legal needs. To find out more about how we can assist you, call (781) 585-3911 or contact us online.