Distracted drivers make roadside work dangerous in Northern BC

Imagine having vehicles pass within metres of your workspace.

That’s often what it’s like for Steve Scuor, a TELUS safety consultant whose territory includes Prince George, Terrace, and Fort St. John. His job often puts him in roadside Cone Zones, where he and his crews – and passing drivers and their passengers – are at constant risk.

The locations leave crews “very vulnerable,” he says. Because they do a lot of emergency response, such as dealing with severed cables, they often don’t have time to bring in traffic control people to manage vehicles around them. “We rely on our cones and signs.”

They also have to rely on drivers to slow down and pay attention. It’s critical to their safety.

Between 2013 and 2022 in BC, 9 roadside workers were killed and 239 were injured seriously enough to miss time from work, according to WorkSafeBC statistics.

“We’re still seeing far too many people being injured or killed,” says Trace Acres, Program Director for Road Safety at Work and spokesperson for the Cone Zone campaign, which promotes roadside worker safety. “Drivers have a responsibility to proceed safely through any kind of work zone to ensure that those workers can get home safely at the end of the day.”

Scuor often sees driving behaviours that put workers and drivers at risk.

Speeding is very dangerous. “There’ve been times when I have to wave drivers down to get their attention and to slow down,” he says. Distracted drivers are a serious risk too, especially when they’re on their phones. “We always try to look them in the eye to get their attention, to get them to notice us.”

Work zones are common in northern BC year round. Changing weather conditions make them even more dangerous in fall and winter.

A roadside work zone is any area next to a road where a worker may be exposed to moving vehicles. It can be fixed in one place, such as a construction site or the area around a tow truck picking up a stranded vehicle. Or it can be mobile work, such as mowing, line painting, or garbage and recycling collection.

Orange cones are frequently used to alert drivers. Automated flagger assistance devices (AFADs) are becoming more common around work zones. They’re remotely operated and have red and yellow traffic lights and an arm with a fluorescent orange or red flag.

When approaching an AFAD:

• Stop at least 1 car length away when the arm is down and the light is either solid yellow or red.
• Don’t proceed even if there is no oncoming traffic.
• Drive ahead only when the light switches to flashing yellow and the gate arm is fully raised.

When approaching any work zone, “drive like a loved one or a close friend works there,” says Acres. “Even if you’re briefly delayed, remember that those delays are necessary to help keep roadside workers safe.”

BC law requires drivers to:

• Slow down and drive with care
• Pay attention and leave your phone alone
• Obey road signs, traffic control devices, and traffic control people

In addition, BC’s Slow Down, Move Over law applies when vehicles in the work zone have flashing amber, red or blue lights (tow, fire, police). Drivers are required to reduce speed below the posted limit, as follows:

Slow Down Move Over also requires you to move over on a multi-lane road to increase the space between your vehicle and the work zone, if it’s safe to do so. “Make sure you’re giving those workers room to work and not putting them in any kind of danger,” Acres says.

Not following the rules can be costly. The typical fines in BC for work zone violations include:

• Failing to follow Slow Down Move Over law: $173 and 3 points
• Using an electronic device while driving: $368
• Speeding: $196 and up
• Disobeying a traffic control device: $121
• Disobeying a traffic control person: $196

Scuor is passionate about the Cone Zone campaign. He’s volunteered to be photographed with his sons for campaign ads, helps organize enforcement events with the RCMP, and provides input on Cone Zone educational resources.

“The messages about keeping workers and drivers safe really resonate with me,” he says.

He serves as the TELUS representative on the Work Zone Safety Alliance, a group of public and private sector organizations committed to reducing the number of injuries and deaths on the roadside. The Alliance supports the campaign, which is managed by Road Safety at Work.

Scuor has two messages for drivers:

• When you see flashing amber lights, slow down and move over. “The lights mean workers are at the roadside because they’re doing emergency work.”
• Pay attention. “When you’re distracted, you don’t have enough time to see us. You need time to react, to adjust your speed, maybe change your course to drive around our worksite.”

For more information on driving safely in work zones, and on what employers can do to help keep roadside workers safe, visit ConeZoneBC.com.

For tips on driving safely at work, visit RoadSafetyAtWork.ca.

Media contact

Gord Woodward, Communications manager
Road Safety at Work
250-734-3652
gwoodward@roadsafetyatwork.ca