FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (April 22, 2020) – The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) celebrates “Go Orange Day” today, which is the midpoint of National Work Zone Awareness Week, an event that emphasizes the need for diligence when approaching roadway work zones.

While most people remain at home and off the roads because of COVID-19 precautions, ATSSA members and departments of transportation across the country are busy making roadway repairs and taking other steps to advance roadway safety infrastructure. In some states, road projects are accelerating to take advantage of the light traffic.

As National Work Zone Awareness Week begins, the National Transportation Safety Board announced two safety recommendations have been implemented as a result of prior work zone crashes that caused fatalities.

One involved a tractor-trailer that started a chain-reaction collision on Interstate 95 in New Jersey. The other involved a train that struck a backhoe in Pennsylvania. 

National Work Zone Awareness Week begins Monday and though people across the country aren’t using the roads nearly as much these days because of COVID-19, roadway workers are still out there. Their work is deemed essential and continues to put them at risk.

This annual event, which runs from April 20-24, highlights the risks to roadway workers and seeks to heighten attention to common issues such as distracted driving, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said claimed the lives of 2,841 people in 2018 and comes down to three problems: taking our eyes off the road, our hands off the wheel, and our minds off of driving.

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner says in a video statement that we can put an end to work zone accidents but that means we must all do our part.

ATSSA has postponed two major events scheduled for this spring in the wake of COVID-19. The Legislative Briefing & Fly-In scheduled for April 22-23 has been delayed by five months to Sept. 9-10. The Safer Roads 2020 International Conference scheduled for May 12-14 in Richmond, Va., has been postponed by six months to November. An exact date will be announced once it is confirmed.

We will post additional updates related to COVID-19 as available.

At the heart of ATSSA are dedicated members in the roadway safety infrastructure industry that tirelessly to advance the association’s mission of roadway safety and moving Toward Zero Deaths on our nation’s roadways. ATSSA’s board of directors help set the tone for the strategic objectives and efforts to collectively lead the association in addressing critical issues within the roadway safety infrastructure industry.

3M’s Transportation Safety Division once again hosted the 3M Toward Zero Deaths Virtual Pledge Wall in support of the American Traffic Safety Services Foundation (ATSS Foundation). Online donations were accepted until Feb. 12—the end of ATSSA's Annual 49th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo—and totaled up to more than $15,000 thanks to the association’s generous supporters and partnering company, 3M. 

A recent survey showed that 54% of highway contractors in the United States reported vehicles crashing into their work zones in the past year.