ADVISORY/Taming the Monsters from Planet Orange; ATA Advises How to Drive Safely in Highway Construction Zones.

Business Editors/Travel Writers

ADVISORY...for April 6-12

National Work Safety Awareness Week

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2003

They're here. Those long lines of orange barrels, constricting rows of concrete walls, and diamond-shaped "Road Work Ahead" signs have popped up again all along the highways and byways we travel every day. With their arrival comes increased traffic congestion and the temptation by far too many drivers to take unnecessary and unsafe chances behind the wheel.

"In a work zone, patience behind the wheel has to be priority one," says Bill Graves, President of the American Trucking Associations, the nation's largest trucking industry trade and safety group. "Sooner or later, the work zone will end. A split second burst of aggressive driving in a cramped construction area just isn't worth the often-tragic consequences."

For safety's sake, and to help motorists, Graves' group polled its team of million-mile, accident-free truck drivers for their common sense advice on how to safely navigate work zones.

-- Double your usual following distance. Without it, you won't

have time to safely react to warnings or hazards, like debris

or potholes that suddenly pop out from under the vehicle

ahead.

-- Get into the correct lane well in advance.

-- Where traffic is merging into a single lane, be extremely

cautious of cars racing to get ahead of slowing traffic. Truck

drivers call these unsafe motorists "zippers", after the way

they zip in and out of slowing traffic, endangering other

motorists who are obeying the work zone signs.

-- Pay close attention to operating construction equipment while

in a work zone. You never know their next move so be ready to

stop.

-- Remember that most work zone traffic lanes are narrow and

don't have shoulders or emergency lanes due to the use of

barrels and concrete barricades.

-- Where a temporary median crossover is used, drivers beware:

uneven or sloped road surfaces can dramatically affect

handling and stability.

-- Drivers should report an absence of signs, or poor signage, to

the appropriate highway department.

The professional truck drivers add that "zippers" likely never think of how they are endangering themselves, their families, or other motorists when they cut quickly in front of a large truck at a work zone merge site, and then suddenly have to slow down. It is perhaps the most dangerous traffic offense they could commit. This type of behavior in a cramped construction site endangers not only truck and car drivers, but highway workers as well.

NOTE: PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVERS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS