Over Fifty Years Of Personal Injury Law Practice

Car accidents in work zones are more common than you may think

On Behalf of | Jun 13, 2022 | Motor Vehicle Accidents

No one wants to get into a car accident – it is a scary and often frustrating experience. You do your best to avoid them but you can’t control the actions of drivers around you. And when they make a mistake, you can be seriously injured before you realize what’s happening. Work zones are particularly susceptible to driver inattention, making them very dangerous to negotiate.

The statistics tell the story

Data from the National Safety Council shows that, in 2020 alone, 857 people were killed nationwide as a result of motor vehicle accidents that occurred in work zones. Forty-four thousand more were injured. In Louisiana alone, 28 people lost their lives in work zone crashes.

More than half of the fatalities (530) were the drivers of the vehicles involved in the accident, but deaths were in no way limited to drivers. More than 300 people died who were either passengers in a vehicle or nearby pedestrians. Even bicyclists were not exempt from the grim statistics, accounting for 14 of those killed.

Why are work zones so dangerous?

Every driver on the road owes everyone else a duty to drive in a safe and reasonable manner at all times. The problem is that work zones can act as a distraction for those drivers who are not completely focused on the task at hand.

The equipment on site and the work being done can draw the attention of drivers who should be focused on what they are doing. Loud noises can make it harder to hear what’s going on around the vehicle. And the work can necessitate rerouting traffic, so that drivers must navigate roads in a way with which they are not familiar.

Regardless of the exact cause, when a driver fails to drive with reasonable care through a work zone and injures you in the process, they can be held liable for negligence. A personal injury lawsuit may be the best tool available to you so that you can be made whole again and the negligent party can be held responsible for their actions.

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