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Respect our Roadworkers

The Highways Agency working alongside Essex County Council launched their month long "Respect our Roadworkers" campaign at the Birchanger Services on the M11 on Monday 1st February 2010.

The aim of the campign is to improve road user behaviour whilst driving through roadworks in Suffolk and Essex by building awareness and understanding the dangers of road works and themselves and informing drivers of the correct behaviour when driving through roadworks. Roadworks are a place of work, and the people there deserve just as much respect as you would expect at work. On busy roads, day and night and in all weathers, they risk their lives improving our highways, maintaining them and keeping them open.

On the trunk road network in Essex and Suffolk in a 4 year period within roadworks, there were 89 collisions resulting in 141 injuries. Of these 141 injuries, there were 3 fatalities and 37 serious injuries.

The campaign is supported by media at Birchanger Services, petrol pump nozzle adverts at selected stations near to where roadworks are currently underway and press adverts in the Ipswich Evening Star, East Anglian Daily and the Chelmsford Yellow Advertiser.

You can hear messages on Heart Essex Radio and Heart Colchester Radio who are delivering a 20 second 'road worker safety' message across all time bands in addition to community awareness events at Birchanger, Copdock, Colchester and Chelmsford.

When you are approaching roadworks:

• Keep within the speed limit - it is there for the safety of everyone
• Get into the correct lane in good time - don't keep switching
• Concentrate on the road ahead, not the roadworks
• Be alert for works' traffic leaving or entering roadworks
• Keep a safe distance - there could be queues in front
• Observe all signs - they are there to help you
   

More information regarding the campaign can be found on the Highways Agency - www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge