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MoDOT Workers Recall Work Zone Crash in Video
Distracted driving is dangerous, especially in work zones. Motorists who drive distracted increase their chances of being involved in a crash. These types of crashes can often result in a serious injury or fatality and expensive property damage.
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Click above to watch MoDOT workers talk about a work zone crash.
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On May 27, four MoDOT workers were victims of a crash while driving on U.S. Route 50 in Moniteau County. The four were drivers and operators involved in a striping operation, a slow-moving mobile work zone. During this crash, two trucks in the striping train were struck by a distracted motorist's vehicle.
The workers tell their crash story in a brief
video designed to ask motorists to pay attention and avoid distracted driving. The video can be found here http://youtu.be/fKaWWyJSBVM.
MoDOT workers are not the only ones who are at risk due to distracted driving in work zones. Between 2010 and 2014, 53 people were killed and 3,347 people were injured in Missouri work zones. The top five contributing circumstances for work zone crashes in 2014 were following too closely, inattention, improper lane use or changing lanes, failure to yield, and driving too fast for conditions - in that order.
These workers hope their story will save lives by encouraging drivers to pay attention and slow down, especially when encountering highway work zones.
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Work Zone Safety Tips
- Slow down and pay attention in work zones.
- Not all work zones look alike. They can be moving operations or short term, temporary lane closures.
- The average text takes five seconds to read. Traveling at 55 mph, you will travel more than the length of a football field - blindfolded!
- MoDOT's slow moving maintenance operations move as slow as 10 mph and if you aren't paying attention to the road, you will come up on the closed lane very quickly.
- Any time highway workers are present on a Missouri roadway - whether it's a long term lane closure, a moving operation, or shoulder work - your safety and the safety of those workers depends on drivers' focus and attention.
- We want you and our workers to make it home safe every day.
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MoDOT is looking for the public's opinion on a variety of work zone details - including clear and understandable signing, channelizers and barrels providing proper guidance, and whether or not the work zone caused motorists any delays.
The department uses those survey results to evaluate work zones, look for ways to improve them and meet customer expectations.
All motorists traveling through a work zone are encouraged to participate in the online survey - Rate Our Work Zones - not while driving though!
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Major Bridge Project Updates
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St . Louis I-64 Daniel Boone Missouri River Bridge Update
Crews are now preparing to open the bridge to traffic. Up to two lanes of traffic will be closed on eastbound I-64 starting at 6 p.m. Friday, June 26 and will remain closed throughout the weekend. Motorists are strongly encouraged to avoid the area and use alternate routes like I-70 and Route 364.
The new bridge will be open to traffic by 5 a.m. Monday, June 29.
The opening of the new bridge will allow crews to begin rehab work on the existing eastbound bridge to accommodate future westbound traffic. That bridge is expected to reopen later this year. The current westbound bridge, which was built in the 1930s, will be demolished early in 2016.
For more information on the I-64 Daniel Boone Missouri River Bridge project, go to www.modot.org/boonebridge.
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 Kansas City I-70 Manchester Bridge Update
Over the June 13 weekend, crews switched traffic in the westbound lanes of I-70 onto the new Manchester Bridge. Both the westbound and eastbound lanes are now on the new bridge structure.
Crews will dismantle the old bridge and add additional lanes to complete the project, which is scheduled to finish by December 2015.
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Becky Allmeroth Named MoDOT's State Maintenance Engineer
Becky Allmeroth, who has served MoDOT for the past 19 years, has been named state maintenance engineer following the retirement last month of Beth Wright. Allmeroth is a 1995 graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri S&T). She started her MoDOT career as a highway designer in Willow Springs. In 1996, she transferred to the St. Louis District where she has worked in planning, federal aid and traffic. For the past six years, Allmeroth has served as maintenance and traffic operations engineer for the St. Louis region.
"In my new role, I am most excited about working on helping our statewide maintenance supervisors improve the efficiency of their work," said Allmeroth. "With the reduction in funding for transportation and reduced level of maintenance, we have got to help them better plan, track and improve their work processes while allowing them to get out in the field more. We have a plan to make their jobs easier, and I am looking forward to get that moving."
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Don't Lose Your Independence This Holiday
Law enforcement seeking impaired drivers over Independence Day holiday
If you're thinking about driving impaired this week, the red, white and blue flashing lights of your Independence Day holiday may be those of a patrol car - and the view of the fireworks is not so good from a local jail cell.
 The Fourth of July is one of the deadliest holidays of the year due to substance-impaired driving crashes. Local law enforcement will be out in full force July 3-5 seeking impaired drivers through increased sobriety checkpoints, roving and saturation patrols, and other enforcement methods. There are no warnings and no excuses. If you drive impaired you will be arrested. Don't risk losing your independence by choosing to drink and drive.
"One fatality on our highways is too many, and there is no excuse for driving while you are impaired," said Colonel J. Bret Johnson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. "Over the 2014 July holiday, troopers arrested 155 people who made the decision to drink and drive and put others at risk. If you're going to include alcohol in your holiday plans, choose a sober designated driver."
Often, people have a hard time recuperating financially from the cost of an arrest or the crash itself. Violators risk killing or harming others, face jail time, the loss of their driver licenses, higher insurance rates and dozens of other unanticipated expenses from attorney fees, fines and court costs, car towing and repairs, and lost time at work.
The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety recommends these simple tips to avoid a drunk-driving disaster:
- Before drinking, designate a sober driver.
- If you're impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely.
- If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don't hesitate to call local law enforcement.
- Always wear your seat belt. It's your best defense in any traffic crash.
For more information, visit www.saveMOlives.com, or find them on Facebook and Twitter at Save MO Lives.
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 Rainy Weather/Flooded Roads Safety Tips
Share these tips with family and friends to keep Missourians safe:
- Turn on your headlights when windshield wipers are needed. It's the law.
- Slow down, use caution and don't use cruise control when driving in rain to avoid skidding and hydroplaning.
- Never move or drive around barricades placed on roadways due to high water. Barricades are a warning designed to protect you from an unsafe condition. You can put yourself at serious risk if you proceed into a flooded section of road.
- If a road is closed, find another route.
- Do NOT drive into high water. Stop and turn around.
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Missouri Dept. of Transportation | (888) 275-6636
P.O. Box 270 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0270
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