By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As more work zones get going in the spring and summer, it's important to note that those signs are around all the time while a project continues.
"If there's a work zone up, that zone is in effect irregardless of if there's workers there," said Hutchinson Police traffic Sgt. Brian Hirt. "There may be a lot of different conditions with the street. Maybe part of the street's torn up. If it's marked 20 miles per hour, it's 20 anytime that zone is there."
The math on the amount of injury you can cause to a construction worker if they're hit is exponential.
"Anytime you have a collision, when I talk about speed, when you figure speed into energy in an equation, the speed number is squared," Hirt said. "30 times 30 miles an hour is 900, 20 times 20 would be 400. When you start figuring that equation, it just doesn't go up a little bit."
That's part of the reason the fines double in a construction zone. The first key to not getting cited and to not getting in an accident is to pay attention.
"People just don't pay attention," Hirt said. "The number one cause of accidents in Kansas is inattention. If we're driving along, oh, I didn't know it was a construction zone. We all see the cones, but we're just so caught up in what we're doing. We don't think."
Unfortunately, Hirt says in Kansas we're 20% ahead of the traffic fatality rate from last year to this point.