VIDEO: RIDOT Honors Injured Worker During National Work Zone Awareness Week
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation on Tuesday marked National Work Zone Awareness Week, highlighting the story of a RIDOT worker injured in a crash this winter. Joe Molis, who is still recuperating, was in his work truck when a car slammed into it injuring him severely. The driver was later charged with driving under the influence.
“We hear countless stories of people speeding through work zones, driving impaired, distracted or in some other reckless manner without regard for the safety of others,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. said. “Unfortunately for Joe, this wasn’t just another near miss.”
Nationally each year, more than 700 people die in work zone-related accidents and more than 25,000 injuries are reported. A work zone crash occurs every 5.4 minutes and each week there are 12 work zone crashes that involved at least one death. A large majority of those killed, about 85 percent, are not the workers on the road, but the driver or occupant of the vehicle involved in the crash. In Rhode Island there were 22 work zone injuries in 2018.
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RIDOT joined with the Rhode Island State Police, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, AAA Northeast, and representatives of organized labor across Rhode Island in front of RIDOT’s headquarters building in Providence to share a common message, “Drive carefully and protect those working on our roads and bridges.” Today’s event was one of many being held across the country in coordination with National Work Zone Awareness Week, which is April 8-12, 2019.
Molis, who could not attend the event because of his injuries, said he’s been on dozens of work sites as traffic zooms past very close, and at full speed. He thought if he ever was in a work zone crash, it would be along the highway. He never thought it would occur on a road where the speed limit is only 25 mph.
“People need to open their eyes, pay attention and slow down. It’s really no more than a few moments, a second or two off your trip, to slow down in a work zone,” he said. “Everybody out there has a family. Everybody deserves to get home safely.”
