RICHMOND — Bunky Johnson, an 18-year maintenance crew member in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Norfolk Residency, knows first-hand how important it is for drivers to use caution when driving through a work zone. And he has the video footage to back up that knowledge.

Johnson was clearing drains on Interstate 264 in Virginia Beach last winter when he looked up to see the bottom of a sport utility vehicle hurling over the median barrier directly at him. Coincidentally, 13 News, the local ABC TV station, was recording a traffic story using VDOT’s traffic cameras that happened to be aimed where Johnson was working. Reporters later told Johnson that the SUV missed him by only about a foot.

These are the kinds of stories teenagers hear when VDOT and Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance (VTCA) employees make work zone safety presentations to Virginia’s newest drivers by visiting high school driver education classes.

So far this school year, about 160 volunteers have spoken to more than 21,000 students. Nearly 93,000 teens have heard the message since the statewide program’s inception in 2003.

Seventeen people died and 1,098 others were injured in Virginia’s work zones in 2006, according to the latest available statistics.

While highway construction is one of the most dangerous professions in America, four of every five persons killed in work zones are motorists.

“It is so important that we reach out to these young drivers and share the lesson of work zone safety awareness – not just during April in observance of National Work Zone Awareness Week, but year-round,” said VDOT Commissioner David S. Ekern.

VDOT has been observing Work Zone Awareness Week in April each year since 1997. This year, the week is April 2-6.

To see the video of Bunky Johnson’s narrow escape and for more information, click here.

(END)

Page last modified: March 22, 2007