Drivers in Lichfield and Burntwood are being urged to take extra care around workers carrying out road repairs as part of a national initiative.
Contractor Amey and Staffordshire County Council have made the call as part of BRAKE Road Safety Week which starts today (20th November).
It comes after there were more than 480 close calls involving workers recorded across Staffordshire in the past year.
Incidents have included motorists, pedestrians and cyclists ignoring and even moving signs, barriers and cones, drivers mounting pavements to squeeze past roadworks and threats to workers.
Cllr Robert Pritchard, cabinet support member for highways at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Our highways workers do an important job keeping roads maintained and they should have the right to be safe when going about their work.
“We’re using BRAKE’s Road Safety Week to highlight the risks that road users put our crews in when they try and drive through works areas and carry out dangerous manoeuvres.
“It’s only a small number of people who choose to behave like this but one incident on the roads is one too many. In the past we have passed footage on to the police who have taken action against individuals and we’ll continue to do this to make sure we keep crews safe.”
Cllr Robert Pritchard, Staffordshire County Council
People can report any incidents to Staffordshire Police or at www.staffordshire.gov.uk
Richard Harris, from Amey, said:
“Our highways operatives work in a dangerous environment, often on fast roads where traffic flow is significant – we would urge all drivers to exercise caution and patience when driving through roadworks.
“Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen an increase in incidents where the safety of our highways operatives is being placed at risk.
“Poor driving behaviour on Staffordshire roads will not be tolerated and appropriate action can and will be taken against motorists whose driving behaviour can be called into question.”
Richard Harris, Amy
I wholeheartedly support this but…. if they repaired the roads properly, then the crews would not need to keep returning to the same spots to repair their repairs over and over and over again, thereby not exposing them to danger, and road users to danger from poor road surfaces between repairs.
Win, win.