North Platte, Neb. — Nebraska Transportation & Highway Safety officials are urging drivers to slow down, pay attention and be mindful while driving in work zones. They say too many people exceed the speed limit and often aren’t paying attention while encountering work zones on our roads. District 6 State Roads Department Engineer Gary Thayer in North Platte and other officials say it’s time for a “call to action” for drivers to do a better job….
Verbatim: “This year alone, we have had two fatalities of our own state workers out on the roadway and we’ve had another serious accident that involved distracted driving…so this is definitely a key point or points that are changing lives, affecting everybody around and it’s extemely important for the safety not only of the traveling public but the workers out on the roadways.”
Thayer says there’s been a surge of drivers exceeding the speed limit. During the two-week “Make It Click” campaign in May and June of this year, the Nebraska State Patrol reported 955 citations for speeding, including 43 for driving at 100 MPH or more.Thayer says several disturbing trends have surfaced which have put crews and state workers in construction zones and the traveling public at risk…
Verbatim: “For the safety of the driver, for the safety of their family in the vehicles…absolutely everybody standing out on the road, whether it’s a contractor or whether it’s a state employee has family also. Do you really want to be the person that effects those people for the rest of their lives because you’re not paying attention to your driving, or you’re driving excessively fast? Everybody needs to play a role here in improving the safety of our roadways.”
Thayer wants drivers to slow down, obey the speed limit, put down their cell phones and look out for workers on the road.
Thayer says another key point is that seat belts have been proven to save lives, yet in Nebraska it is a secondary offense, ultimately impacting the state’s usage rate of 77.3 percent, one of the lowest in the country.
Thayer was asked whether more laws or needed…or whether present laws need to be tougher?
He responded, “Because our seatbelt laws are a secondary offense instead of a primary…there is some talk of getting our Legislature to look at that issue.”
35 states have primary enforcement for seatbelt violations, but in Nebraska it is a secondary offense, meaning the driver is cited for the violation only if cited or charged with an additional violation or some other offense. A violation results in a $25 fine.
