Summer driving season means vacations, weekend drives to seaside getaways and driving around with the top down or the air conditioning up. Summer driving season also means road construction work takes place all over New Jersey, creating obstacles and hazards for drivers to circumvent with care.

Hazards for Drivers and Workers

Road construction sites pose dangers to both drivers and workers. For street maintenance and road construction workers, the many dangers they face include:

• Motor vehicle crashes
• Mishaps with heavy moving and paving equipment
• Electrocution

For drivers, the dangers include:

• Crashes with other motor vehicles
• Collisions with workers
• Crashes involving heavy equipment
• Collisions involving signs, barriers and degraded road conditions

Between 2002 and 2009, New Jersey was the site of 42,347 work zone crashes; 96 of them resulting in fatalities, according to the state transportation department. Nearly a thousand drivers, passengers and construction workers cross the United States die annually in road construction crashes.

Staying Safe

The most important factor for both drivers and road work employees is to stay alert and aware of what motorists and construction workers are doing. For drivers, this means obeying all traffic signs telling you to slow down, merge, follow detours, etc.

Law enforcement has a role to play in construction site safety, too. State law requires that drivers who exceed the speed limits in work zones pay double the speeding fines.

If you or a member of your family has been injured in a construction work zone due to someone else's negligence, contact a New Jersey personal injury lawyer. A personal injury attorney examines the facts of a case, helps determine liability and uses the law to protect you and your family.