State Transportations Officials Push Work Zone Safety

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network

A traveling exhibit pays tribute to those killed in work zone accidents.

The National Work Zone Memorial Wall also reminds you – slow down and pay attention.

The wall, created by the American Traffic Safety Services Association, has been in existence since 2002 and now has 1,394 names. And most of the accident victims are not the workers.

“At least 90 percent of our fatalities in work zones are motorists,” says Priscilla Tobias, state safety engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. “The motorists are killing themselves.”

Tobias says so far, the 2014 work zone death toll in the state is 15 – only one of them a worker.

The exhibit is in the State Fair Grandstand.