With the Dallas area emerging from an icy winter and stormy spring, construction crews will increasingly be working to build and maintain the thousands of miles of roads and freeways that run through the region.
But transportation officials say the increased number of road crews also means an increased likelihood of drivers — especially ones who are distracted — to cause crashes in those work zones.
“People often mistakenly think that they can multi-task, when really it’s just your brain switching from one task to another,” Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Sara Warren said this week. The state department of transportation has dubbed it as “National Work Zone Awareness Week.”
“The thing is, your brain can easily leave out important details necessary to driving in a construction zone, such as seeing a warning sign or a flagger.”
According to data compiled by TxDOT from various law enforcement agencies, more than 30,000 crashes were reported in work zones since 2017 in the agency’s Dallas district, which includes Dallas, Collin, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall counties. Those crashes led to more than 13,000 injuries and 167 deaths.
Distracted driving was blamed for more than 4,800 — or about 16% — of those crashes, making it “by far” the leading cause of work zone crashes, followed by impaired driving and speeding, TxDOT said.
Crashes involving distracted driving nearly doubled between 2020 and 2021, the agency said. All construction zones have signs alerting drivers to the presence of work crews and warning about the potential of fines for infractions like speeding and texting, but those signs don’t always work as a deterrent, said Warren, the trooper.
“The problem is there are those who disregard or tamper with these signs,” she said. Warren described a crash that happened about two weeks ago that involved the driver of a box truck texting while driving southbound on Interstate 45.
The driver, she said, struck a guardrail before crossing over a barrier into the northbound lane, went toward the far shoulder, then overcorrected and rolled over. A tractor trailer struck the box truck’s cab, killing the driver and a passenger.
“Now, just think of this in a construction zone, and all the problems that can occur other than just those vehicles,” Warren said.
Local examples of distracted-driving fatalities over recent years show the seeming randomness and devastation of the issue.
In 2018, a man who had been talking on his phone while speeding in a work zone barreled into a line of stalled traffic on Dallas North Tollway, killing 16-year-old Guy Delaney. The driver, Terrelwin Jones, left the scene of the crash. He was sentenced last year to 10 years of probation.
Local police officers who oversee or work in their department’s traffic-enforcement or crashes divisions said they think several different measures could reduce distracted-driving crashes.
Arlington police Sgt. John Brown said 834 distracted-driving crashes were reported in the city last year — though none caused fatalities. He said the department deploys officers to some of the busiest work zones, including those on Interstate 30 and Texas State Highway 360.
“I definitely think more warning signs would help,” Brown said. He also encouraged drivers to use hands-free devices to take a call instead of talking on the phone, though he acknowledged that’s not a perfect fix.
“I’m not saying that’s 100% accident-free, because even with the hands-free, at times you still have to answer or disconnect the phone,” Brown said. “You’re still taking your hands off the wheel or eyes off the roadway.”
Mesquite Police Sgt. Kevin Rough said the constant road construction and traffic in Mesquite actually helps drivers pay better attention.
“We have such a broad area of construction that some people are kind of used to it now,” Rough said. “It’s fairly routine for them to change the traffic pattern, and the volume of the traffic in and of itself will naturally decrease the speed.
Texas law prohibits drivers from sending or receiving text messages or emails behind the wheel of a moving car. Some cities have more strict laws regarding phone use in the car.
