On Monday, April 14, 2025, James Dean Harper was patching potholes on the West Virginia Turnpike when a distracted tractor-trailer driver hit Harper in the work zone, killing him. Harper was 24.
He left behind a wife and infant child.
“All across the state, and even across the country, men and women will be working outside on roads,” said West Virginia Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh, P.E. Those men and women, he said, will be working inches away from cars and trucks zipping past, sometimes protected only by a thin orange line of safety cones and the trust that motorists will heed flashing lights and signs restricting speeds to 55 mph.
“While many take notice, many more do not, often leading to tragic outcomes,” Rumbaugh said. “That’s why, as we observe work zone awareness week, it is crucial to reflect on the serious risks faced by both workers and drivers in roadway construction areas.”
Monday, April 21, 2025, marked the start of national Work Zone Awareness Week, a time to reflect on the importance of paying attention in the nation’s work zones. Last year, there were 786 work zone crashes in West Virginia, leading to 273 injuries and seven deaths.
To mark Work Zone Awareness Week, the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) hosted a press conference to call attention to the dangers inherent in highway work zones. Rumbaugh was joined by representatives of the West Virginia State Police, West Virginia Contractors Association, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), and the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
“Distracted driving in work zones isn’t just reckless, it’s deadly,” said Everett Frazier, representing the Highway Safety Program. “One second of looking at your phone, fiddling with the radio, or being mentally somewhere else is all it takes to change a life forever."
Also present was Randall Randolph, a WVDOH worker who was hit by a truck in a Mason County work zone in January. In the days following the incident, Randolph did not know if he would live, let alone be able to walk again.
“We owe it to our workers, and to ourselves, to slow down, stay alert, and stay off the phone in work zones,” Frazier said. “Those ‘Work Zone Ahead’ signs? That’s not a suggestion. It’s a plea to value life over convenience.”
Rumbaugh said work zone safety is not just a concern for a week in April.
“We cannot wait until each April and use our clever phrases and wear orange for a week, or a month,” Rumbaugh said. “It must turn into a behavior, and an everyday mindset.”
