4/10/2024
Ellen Mattila
ITD Communication
208-832-8776
ellen.mattila@itd.idaho.gov
Media Advisory: Go Orange for Work Zone Safety on April 17
BOISE— Go Orange on Wednesday, April 17 for work zone safety! Next week is National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is calling on newsrooms around the state to “Go Orange” with us to raise awareness for work zone safety.
Please consider wearing orange in your April 17 newscasts and/or post on social media using the hashtags #NWZAW, #Orange4Safety, and #DriveWellIdaho.
Idaho Work Zone Stats (from Idaho Office of Highway Safety):
- From 2018-2022 there were 3,315 crashes in work zones in Idaho. During that period there were 32 fatalities, all of them were drivers or passengers in vehicles. What many people fail to recognize is the vast majority of people killed in work zone crashes are motorists and their passengers.
- In 2022, the most common type of crash in work zones (58%) was rear-end collisions among drivers.
- In 2022, the economic cost of crashes in work zones in Idaho was nearly $109 million.
National Stats (From NHTSA and workzonesafety.org):
- Nationally in 2021, 956 people died in work zones, 108 were highway workers and 778 were drivers or passengers.
ITD will be releasing more Work Zone Awareness news and information next week. If you would like to pre-arrange a work zone safety interview, please reach out.
- For North Idaho, contact Heather McDaniel at Heather.McDaniel@itd.idaho.gov.
- For North-Central Idaho, contact Mark Pfeifer at Mark.Pfeifer@itd.idaho.gov.
- For Southwest Idaho, contact Sophia Miraglio at Sophia.Miraglio@itd.idaho.gov.
- For South-Central Idaho, contact Courtney Salmon at Courtney.Salmon@itd.idaho.gov.
- For Southeast Idaho, contact Justin Smith at Justin.Smith@itd.idaho.gov.
- For East Idaho, contact Megan Jahns at Megan.Jahns@itd.idaho.gov.