Construction zones have varied statistics, but as there is plenty of roadwork always happening in Ohio, it’s good to have a gauge of how many injuries and deaths really take place each year. Construction zone accidents are possible any time there is roadwork going on. The danger comes from vehicles passing through these areas while workers are using dangerous and hazardous materials.
The U.S. Department of Transportation last released information on the 2010 data for work zone crashes. In that year, there were 87,606 crashes around the United States. In total, that was 1.6 percent of all roadway crashes in the nation. Most of the time, when crashes take place, injuries are what result. In fact, out of the crashes in 2010, 69 percent were limited to property damage only. Of course, that means that 31 percent of the crashes resulted in injuries or fatalities.
What’s interesting about construction zone statistics is how they show when the accidents tend to take place. For example, night time work doesn’t seem to have an effect on the number of workplace accidents. In fact, most crashes, 70 percent, took place between 8 a.m. and 4:59 p.m., the normal daylight hours when children head to school and adults go to work.
There were 37,476 injuries in work zones in 2010. That means that someone was injured in a work zone every 14 minutes. That equals a whopping 96 injuries per day on average. In 2010, there were 514 fatal motor vehicle accidents in work zones; during those accidents, 576 people were killed. Looking at the numbers, that means that there were approximately 1.6 deaths per day. The number seems to be dropping, and that was a 20 percent decrease from the number of fatalities in 2008.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration, “Facts and Statistics – Work Zone Injuries and Fatalities” Sep. 04, 2014