Highway construction workers in the state of Missouri are at a high risk of accidents when they are engaged in construction activity in a work zone. They are at risk of being involved in accidents involving negligent and aggressive motorists, and truck drivers who are speeding through the work zone. Missouri car accident lawyers believe that those risks will soon drop. A new piece of legislation that has just been signed in the state of Missouri is aimed at protecting highway workers.
Gov. Jane Nixon recently signed Senate Bill 611. The bill expands the Slow Down and Move Over law that had been passed in 2002. That 2002 law only applied to law enforcement vehicles and emergency response vehicles. Under the new expansion, the law is also expanded to include vehicles of highway construction workers.
Under the new law, motorists who are traveling through a construction work zone will have to slow down or change lanes when they approach a vehicle of the Missouri Department of Transportation parked on the side of the road. Missouri Department of Transportation vehicles that are parked, and have amber and white lights flashing are included in the rule.
According to official estimates by the Missouri Department of Transportation, since the year 2000, a total of 4 department employees have died in accidents while they were on the job. Every day, approximately 2,400 agency employees are engaged in construction activity on the state’s highways. These workers work long hours in highly dangerous conditions, so that they can make the highways safer for all drivers to use.
They do not deserve to be at risk from motorists who are speeding through a work zone, or aggressive drivers, or drunk and intoxicated motorists. Unfortunately, very often, these workers are at risk from exactly these types of drivers. Hopefully, the new law will help protect highway workers, and minimize the risk of work zone accidents.
