LANSING, MI (WHTC) – National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) kicks off today, April 3.
Safety agencies have joined forces across the county in an effort to increase awareness about the importance of work zone safety. The theme this year is “Work zone safety is in your hands.” Show your support for NWZAW by wearing orange this Wednesday, April 5. To participate, share a photo on social media of you or your team wearing orange, including the hashtags #Orange4Safety and #NWZAW.
Last year in Michigan, there were 4,908 work zone crashes and 17 people lost their lives. Michigan Department of Transportation says it only takes a split second of distraction to dramatically change lives forever. Watch the true story of Bob and Cyndi Kamps in a short video about a family’s journey after a work zone injury.
Preliminary 2016 Michigan work zone crash information unfortunately shows increases from 2015 numbers:
– 17 fatalities (up from 15 in 2015)
– 75 serious injuries ( up from 69 in 2015)
– 4,908 total crashes ( up from 4,776 in 2015)
As part of the Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) national safety campaign, a vision of eliminating fatalities on our nation’s roads, NWZAW became a national event in 2000.
