Nearly 1,900 people hurt in work zones last year, MDOT says
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan is recognizing National Work Zone Awareness Week starting Monday in an effort to protect road workers on the job and reduce fatal crashes. That same day, a West Michigan man is expected to be sentenced for striking and killing a Van Buren County road worker last year.
Rene Rangel, 58, was killed last March while he was manning a traffic control sign on a county road near Lawrence. Michigan State Police say Logan Brown, of Hartford, ignored signs to stop for a construction zone, rear-ended another car and hit and killed Rangel.
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Brown was found guilty earlier this year of a felony moving violation in a work zone causing death and misdemeanor operating without insurance. He was acquitted of a felony count of operating while intoxicated causing death. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
“He died and his family’s lives changed because someone wasn’t paying attention,” said Jerry Byrne, the managing director of the Kent County Road Commission.
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There were more than 7,200 work zone crashes statewide last year, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Nearly 1,900 people were injured, with 108 of them suffering serious injuries. Twenty people died in work zones, two of them being road workers.
Byrne said he hopes the tragedy of Rangel’s death can remind people to change their driving habits. He said drivers must remember to pay attention, use caution and, most of all, slow down.
“If you think about slowing down to 45 miles an hour, it means probably less than a minute added to your travel,” Byrne said. “Your minute means safety for a worker. It means safety for yourself.”
Kent County is filled with work zones right now as construction season takes shape. Parts of northbound US-131 are closed for weeks as crews work to repair the Plaster Creek Bridge.
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Byrne emphasized that drivers should not only be careful in large construction zones, but also whenever there’s a worker nearby.
“It can be everything from the freeway closure … to a single person out dragging a dead deer or a piece of debris off the road with one single amber or green light,” Byrne said. “They all constitute a work zone. It’s not just about one sign or two signs or 100 signs. … It could be one flashing light.”
Drivers are required by law to slow down and move over for emergency responders like police, firefighters and tow truck drivers. MSP is doing extra enforcement all month of the state’s hands-free driving law, which makes it illegal to hold your phone while driving.
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“You need to focus entirely on your driving, and that means paying attention,” Byrne said. “You should do that no matter if you’re in a zone or not.”
National Work Zone Awareness Week lasts from April 15 through 19. Kent County Road Commission employees are gathering that Friday for a moment of silence honoring those who lost their lives in a work zone crash.
The road commission is also bringing back its annual Third Grade Work Zone Safety Poster Contest, in which Kent County third graders are asked to design a caution sign focused on safety tips for driving through a work zone.
“If we can change behaviors at a young age and have those kids maybe change their parents’ behavior when they’re driving, I think that’s a big thing,” Byrne said.
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