SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A tragedy in a South Dakota road construction zone has the highway patrol urging everyone to be careful amid the orange cones.
A 44-year-old woman, who was working as a flagger in a construction zone east of Wessington, died in a rear-end crash on Tuesday.
The highway patrol says drivers need to be aware and prepared for the potential dangers long before they enter a construction zone.
Sometimes you have to be quick on your toes to work as a flagger in a road construction zone.
“A couple of weeks ago, I had to jump into the ditch, this side-dump driver went right by me,” construction flagger Brittana said.
Close calls and crashes in construction zones happen more often than you may think.
“We might go a couple days without a crash and then we might have two or three right in a row within a matter of minutes,” Lt. Isaac Kurtz with the South Dakota Highway Patrol said.
A lot of them are chain-reaction crashes, so it’s important for drivers to look far beyond the car in front of you.
“A lot of times, when I’m driving through a construction zone, I’m looking up ahead, the second, third, fourth car up ahead. I see them hitting the brakes, I expect to see the car in front of me slowing down,” Kurtz said.
Drivers can sometimes let their guard down when it’s late in the construction season.
“Just because construction season has been around since March or April, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same traveling conditions each day. There might be rain. There might be increased traffic, road debris,” Kurtz said.
Flaggers like Brittana often work along the shoulder of a road, so drivers have very little margin for error when they get too close to her.
“Any miscue by a driver, just a few feet off to the side of the road and a lot of times, those workers are working right there and they can get struck,” Kurtz said.
Kurtz says drivers need to start slowing down as soon as they come across signs warning of construction ahead. That way, there won’t be any sudden braking that often leads to a crash.
It’s not just about watching the cars in front of you. If you feel the vehicle behind you is coming up too fast in a construction zone, Kurtz says to gently tap your brakes, not slam them, so drivers in the rear can see you’re slowing down.
