More than 50 WVDOH highway workers have been killed on the job. Backed up by State Police, the Federal Highways Administration, and the Contractors Association of West Virginia, the WVDOH held a press conference on Monday, April 22, 2024, to urge drivers to slow down and pay attention in work zones. The press conference was punctuated by 57 men and women dressed in orange and draped with black sashes to remember the 57 highway workers killed in the line of duty.
John Rogers, a local representative with the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), said 94 highway workers were killed in work zones nationwide during 2022. Alarmingly, work zone deaths increased by 62 percent between 2013 and 2021, largely due to distracted drivers or excessive speed.
On Thursday, April 4, 2024, a flagger working for contractors A.L.L. Construction was killed in a work zone on US 340 in Jefferson County when she was run over by a driver who failed to yield for stopped traffic.
“All of these workers are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles,” said Contractors Association CEO Jason Pizatella. “Our ask is simple. Slow down, obey the posted work zone speed limit, and always pay attention.”
Five people were killed in work zone crashes on West Virginia highways in 2023. The previous year, there were 800 crashes in West Virginia work zones, killing eight people and injuring 276.
The WVDOH will hold a special ceremony honoring workers who died in the line of duty at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at the Fallen Workers Memorial at the Williamstown welcome center on Interstate 77.
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