Kids in Fort Worth became "Partners in Safety" at an event this week. Students at Blue Haze Elementary School took an oath to "remind the adults in my car to put down the phone, slow down, watch for signs and watch for the workers."
The drum line from neighboring Brewer High School played during the celebration.
"We've always been pushing work zone safety," says Zachry Construction President Travis Mross. "We understand how important it is to our industry and what we do, but then we asked how else do we impact? What impacts us and our kids?"
Mross says the event aimed to get kids to talk to their parents about work zone safety.
"My kid said to me, 'Can't you stay off the phone?'" Mross says. "It's just amazing what that does and how impactful that is to stay off the phone and stay alert."
Fort Worth Police say the event aims to help construction workers stay safe, but they say the same principles protect drivers.
"It really boils down to one simple phrase: Put the phone down, keep your head up," says Jason Spencer, commander of the Fort Worth Police Department's West Division. "We know the causes of most of our crashes are inattention, too much speed, unsafe movements and distracted driving. If we can wipe those things out, and they're all within our control, then we can eliminate a lot of accidents."
In a construction zone, Spencer says those common causes of wrecks carry additional significance because a highway might have a smaller shoulder, the route might be changing frequently and people will be working close to travel lanes.
"We know traffic's bad enough in a construction zone without it getting shut down because of a fender bender that could have easily been prevented," he says. "If we have a truly serious accident where somebody gets seriously hurt, it's totally preventable, it's tragic, it's unnecessary, and we just want to stop it."
Spencer says police use enforcement to stop unsafe driving, but he says events like this can also teach prevention. He says they can also start to teach kids safe driving techniques to better prepare them for getting their own licenses when they are older.
Near the schools, the Texas Department of Transportation is rebuilding Interstates 20 and 30 west of Fort Worth.
"The rapid growth in Western Tarrant and Eastern Parker Counties necessitated the expansion, and that growth continues at an unprecedented rate," says TxDOT District Engineer David Salazar.
Salazar credits Zachry Construction with streamlining parts of the work to finish the project by 15 months.
"Our work to advance this project continues, and as of today, we are even ahead of the accelerated schedule," he says.
Salazar says ten percent of TxDOT's Fort Worth District employees live along the project corridor.
"Our plea is simple. We work here. We live here, too. We're your neighbors," he says. "Our families travel the corridor just like yours do, and we want everyone to get home safely. We need drivers to do their part. Number one is put your phone down, watch your speed in work zones, stay alert for workers and signs and stop following too closely."
Salazar says education efforts can highlight those priorities. Some of the students say they have already talked to their parents.
"I said, 'Mom, can you slow down? You're going too fast. Sometimes I say, 'Mom, maybe you can answer the text later,'" one girl said.
"Slow down and please put your phone down. I don't like it because it scares me and there's a bunch of other drivers you might hit," a classmate said.
