Do You Drive Safe in Work Zones? What Connecticut Drivers Should Know

Does driving through road construction areas bother you?

Even as we approach colder temperatures and the busy holiday season, road construction still goes on.

Recently, I have seen lane closures on Interstate 95 in Connecticut whether it's for tree removal, the pending installation of highway electronic signs, or work on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge which goes over the Quinnipiac River and is known locally as the Q-bridge.

That project has involved overnight lane closures since closing this portion of I-95 during the daytime would lead to complete gridlock.

Since my job involves a good deal of driving, I have seen a variety of negative and unsafe ways drivers react to road construction.

While on Connecticut interstates, large highway electronic signs and/or messages on Highway Advisory Radio alert motorists to construction ahead of time, it seems that some ignore those messages.

I still see drivers cut out in front of vehicles when their lane ends or abruptly hit the brakes before hitting a stopped line of traffic in front of them.

Several times, I saw a tractor trailers move into a soon-to-close lane at the last possible second and almost hit several large orange cones or DOT vehicles.

Perhaps those who decide to pass everyone driving in the shoulder are the most reckless.

Those motorists usually don't save anything at all since the shoulder is closed ahead and construction vehicles or police are sitting right there.

While some might do this to get off at the next exit, which is just up the road, it is still unsafe unless the exit is very close and you have clear visibility of the ramp.
Even then, you are still taking a big risk that someone doesn't pull out in front of you doing the same thing.

It's possible that some drivers don't believe the signs, sometimes after a work zone reopens; signs are not immediately taken down or covered up.

However, that is more the exception than the rule.

It is pretty bad when heavy police presence is necessary to force drivers to slow down and be safe.