LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – As the weather continues to level out, we may see more construction taking place throughout our communities.

With many of those construction sites set up along busy roadways, insurance experts are reminding everyone of the importance of safe driving habits through construction zones.

Maya Afilalo with autoinsurance.com said as crews work to update or make roads safer for us, we also need to keep their safety in mind.

“To be most direct about it, it can be a question of life or death,” she said.

Afilalo said here in the U.S. in 2023, 1 in 10 workplace fatalities tracked by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were due to vehicle strikes.

She said construction workers are at a higher risk for this since a lot of them work close to the road.

“I think the responsibility really is on the drivers. When you’re in a construction zone, or there’s roadwork happening, is to always be vigilant when you’re driving but to especially be paying attention to any signage or any instruction to reduce speed,” she said.

Afilalo said reducing speed and limiting distractions like phone use or eating are the best ways to keep you and others safe when driving through these zones.

“I think like 35 miles per hour, once you’re going over that speed, the likelihood of a crash when you strike someone being fatal increases a lot,” she said. “Its easy to forget that we are behind a wheel of a 2,000 pound vehicle that could really hurt someone.”

Even if you’re caught speeding through a construction zone, Afilalo said that can cost you an even bigger fine than speeding on a standard roadway.

According to OSHA, there have been 12 work-related fatalities where someone has been struck by a vehicle or tractor trailer in Kentucky since 2017.

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