CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- To mark National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, Illinois' transit authorities launched a public outreach campaign and reminding drivers to "Drive Like You Work Here."
As a part of that campaign, the people who work along roads are pleading with motorists to slow down and watch for them, especially now, during construction season.
Road laborer Darcey Brogdon said it only takes one bad judgment on your part to hurt or kill someone on her side of a construction barricade.
"Just think about going to your job wherever that may be and, 'Boom!' Suddenly there's a car right in your cubicle," she said.
Equipment operator John Wagner relates his close call. He said his maintenance truck was destroyed seconds after he stepped out of it.
"I can still remember the sound of the crash as a distracted driver crashed into the back of my truck while I was standing less than three feet away from it," he said.
The state said that, on average, there are more than 5,300 work zone crashes every year in Illinois.
State Police Assistant Deputy Director David Byrd said troopers are out and actively looking for motorists who disregard safe driving laws in work zones.
