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. 

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.

National Work Zone Awareness Week will continue as scheduled on April 20-24. However, Michigan officials canceled the April 21 kickoff event in accord with CDC guidelines regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Sunday, the CDC recommended groups not hold gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials discussed the issue with ATSSA today. It was agreed that MDOT will instead host next year’s event. Virginia DOT had been scheduled to host in 2021 but will now host in 2022.

As part of the American Traffic Safety Services Foundation’s (ATSS Foundation) mission to support the loved ones of those impacted by work zone crashes, the nonprofit’s scholarship programs offer healing and educational opportunities. The Foundation offers three scholarship programs: the Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship, the Experience Camps Travel Scholarship and the Marty Weed Engineering Scholarship. 

National Go Orange Day, designated to help raise work zone safety awareness, will celebrate its fourth year on Apr. 10. The event has become a staple of National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), and is a time for individuals and organizations across the country to express their support for work zone safety by wearing orange.

The stories of work zone crash victims serve as important reminders that extra caution is necessary when work zones are present. Dennis Shenk, a work zone crash survivor with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) said after he finished mowing on a side road, he was struck and injured on the job.

The 19^th annual National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), happening April 8-12, 2019, will bring national attention to the importance of work zone safety. Each year during NWZAW, public agencies, organizations, and individuals across the country come together to advocate for the women and men who risk their lives in work zones each day to keep our roadways safe. 

The national averages and the lives affected are at the core of why National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) and Go Orange Day began. They’re also a big part of why the public awareness campaign has continued to grow.

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.