Driving through a highway work zone

In 2021, 956 people died in crashes in highway work zones, and 778 of them were drivers and passengers. That was 10.8% more than in 2020, while deaths on all roads rose 10.3% over the same year. Deaths fell 8% in 2022, the first drop since 2018. An estimated 37,000 people were injured in work zone crashes in 2022, the fewest since 2015.

Before you go

• Check the route for active work zonesTraveler information websites, social media accounts and apps show where work is underway.
• Take another route if you canOtherwise, allow extra time for the delays.
• Follow the signed detours

In the work zone

• Put the phone down
• Keep to the posted speed limitWork zones often have lower limits to get traffic through narrow lanes and lane shifts. Speed played a part in 32% of the fatal work zone crashes in 2021.
• Be ready for a sudden stopTraffic can slow in unexpected places. In 2021, 24% of fatal work zone crashes were rear-end collisions.
• Slow down when you see workersThe work area is often close to the travel lanes.
• Watch for people on foot and on bicyclesWork zones limit where they can go. In 2021, 173 people on foot and on bicycles died in work zone crashes.
• Give large trucks and buses extra roomNarrow lanes, sudden lane shifts and longer braking distances make work zones harder for them. In 2021, 33% of fatal work zone crashes involved a large truck or bus, meaning one that weighs 10,001 pounds or more.
• Watch for construction vehicles pulling in and outThey often enter and leave the work area at low speed.

Where the crashes happen

Most fatal work zone crashes happen off the interstates. Of the 874 fatal work zone crashes in 2021, 353 were on interstates, 423 on arterial roads and 80 on collector roads. Fatal work zone crashes involving a large truck or bus rose from 210 in 2020 to 291 in 2021, an increase of 39%, while those without one rose 2%.

The highway workers

Deaths of highway workers fell from 124 in 2018 to 94 in 2022. From 2018 to 2022, more than three-quarters of the highway workers who died at road construction sites were killed in motor vehicle crashes. In 27% of those deaths the worker was driving or riding in a vehicle, and in 49% the worker was on foot and struck by one.