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conditions during the day or at night at all AADT levels if the Efforts to inform and raise motorist awareness of the
reduction in crash costs exceeds at least 10 percent. If the cost hazards of driving through work zones are already fairly
of enforcement is higher than this amount, their use is only prevalent across the United States. Most states have work
justified if greater reductions in crash costs are achieved or zone safety tips and other information posted on their web-
their use is restricted to higher-volume roadways. For exam- sites, and they make brochures and pamphlets available to
ple, if enforcement costs for a 1-mile work zone are $50 per motorists at driver licensing stations and other locations (65).
hour ($5,000 per 100 hours), their use can be economically In addition, a number of public safety announcements have
justified during periods of work zone activity with temporary been developed and are periodically run on local television
lane closures during the day on roadways with an AADT of and radio outlets. Nationally, Work Zone Awareness Week
75,000 vpd if a 10 percent reduction in crash costs can be is held each April to further raise driver consciousness
achieved and at nighttime once the roadway AADT approaches about this particular safety concern (66). Finally, a training
200,000 vpd. Conversely, if crash cost reductions of 25 per- program has recently been developed to educate new driv-
cent are achieved, use of enforcement at this cost level is justi- ers about work zones and how to better navigate them
fiable at all AADT levels during the day and once AADT levels safely (67).
exceed about 50,000 vpd, if the work activity and temporary Training of work zone designers and field staff has been
lane closures are done at night. an area of emphasis for FHWA, highway agencies, labor
The third strategy in this category, improved application of unions, etc., for many years. An abundance of training courses,
increased driver penalties in work zones, is predicated on the manuals, videos, web-based modules, and other techniques
notion that higher penalties consistently applied to violators exist. Most of these can be found, organized by topic, at the
of traffic laws in work zones will change driving behavior and National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse (68).
yield a reduction in work zone crash costs. Most states already Recently, the FHWA Work Zone Safety Grant program was
have laws in place to increase the penalties for work zone established to provide assistance for highway work zone safety
traffic violations. Some of the increases are fairly extensive. training and guideline development toward the improvement
However, it appears that these increased penalty laws are not of highway work zone safety. A number of consortiums are
always fully supported in the courts (61). Although it may be developing guidance on a number of work zone safety-related
possible to improve the extent and consistency with which topics and conducting various types of training to dissemi-
these penalties are applied, it is not clear whether such im- nate this guidance to users (69).
provements will yield measurable safety benefits. Deterrence Although these efforts are generally accepted as beneficial
theory indicates that it is the likelihood of apprehension, rather in promoting safer work zones, measuring the effects of these
than the penalty received by being apprehended, that has the types of activities upon safety is generally not possible. Although
major influence on behavior (62). This theory is supported by indicators of the quantity of outreach to motorists and train-
several European studies of automated speed enforcement ing of designers and field personnel can be identified, the abil-
systems (albeit in non-work zone locations), which have ity of agencies to assess the quality of those efforts in terms of
shown a 25 to 35 percent reduction in crashes associated with changes in either driving behavior or in worker-related activ-
the implementation of these systems even though the penal- ities does not exist. Consequently, it is not possible to apply
ties associated with the violations are not extreme (63, 64). any type of economic assessment to these strategies as has
Emphasis on increasing the likelihood of apprehension been done elsewhere in this chapter.
through additional enforcement officer presence or automated
enforcement technologies would appear to offer a greater
Strategies to Develop Procedures
potential benefit to work zone safety at this time.
to Effectively Manage Work Zones
The emphasis of the strategies identified in the NCHRP
Strategies to Increase Knowledge
guidance document for this category is on programs and
and Awareness of Work Zones
procedures that an agency can implement to bring about an
The NCHRP guidance document suggests the following institutional change in how work zone safety is incorpo-
two strategies that increase knowledge and awareness of work rated into the agency's way of doing business (52). Four
zones as a way of improving safety (52): specific strategies were identified that were believed to offer
high-leverage opportunities for safety improvements to
· Disseminate work zone safety information to road users, occur:
and
· Provide work zone training programs and manuals for de- · Develop or enhance agency-level work zone crash data
signers and field staff. systems;
