Road construction season is once again upon us and along with it comes delays, detours and frustrations. Most drivers like to think of themselves as good drivers but that, in my not so humble opinion, is a load of bumpkus.
Just watch how drivers go through a construction zone. They get angry, shout at and even throw stuff at road crews and they even aim for the person holding a traffic control sign that is outfitted with bright neon green or orange clothing. They either don't pay attention to what the traffic control is telling them or try to hit the traffic controller either intentionally or unintentionally.
I worked on road crews for a couple of years and we learned to never trust a driver going through our site. Even 28 years ago when I did it, drivers intentionally tried to hit not only our flag people but the people doing the work on the road. I lost count at how many mirrors a day would hit my back or sides from drivers who were angry about being held up, forced to go slow or just plain not paying attention. Three times our flag people were run over in one season. Fortunately, the injuries were minor but two were from inattention and one was intentional because he was upset that he had to wait.
It is even more dangerous for road workers now because many of the drivers are on electronic devices or have vehicles with tons of bells and whistles that they rely on to help them drive. Lastly, if you see road construction signs on the road yet nobody in sight, you are still required by law to slow down to follow the posted limits and drive at that speed until you are beyond the last set of signs coming from the opposite direction or see a sign to resume regular posted speeds.
If you don't follow the laws, then I truly hope you have deep pockets for all the fines you will get and no sympathy from me.
Do everyone else a favor and learn to pay attention while driving because I really don't like seeing headlines of another flag person or road worker being hit because a driver was angry or inattentive.
Dean Soiland
Prince George
