Cone Zone Campaign

When spring construction season ramps up, the Cone Zone BC campaign kicks in to raise awareness for roadside worker safety. The numbers speak for themselves:

These startling stats make it clear drivers need to undergo a major shift in attitude to help protect people representing a wide range of professions – from traffic controllers and construction crews, to emergency personnel and truck drivers tending to their vehicles.

Cone Zone Blogs Cone Zone Videos Shift Into Winter Photographs

 

A good place to start thinking about roadside worker safety is by hearing their stories. We all need to respect the Cone Zone.

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Page 1 of 14 comments on “Cone Zone Campaign”

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  1. I travel B.C. a lot and I find that after awhile “high-vis” vests and overalls after awhile lose their visibility from dust and dirt. The last time I traveled in the U.S.in, I believe, Arizona, one of the flaggers had a flagging sign operated with LED bulbs. It flashed red around the stop portion and was outstanding in its visibility. Maybe I could suggest its time to update flagging signs with this technology. Certainly the price would be a bit higher but cheaper than a life. Think re-chargeable 9 volt batteries and maybe a collapsible foot peg for resting one leg. The technology is out there.

    • A great suggestion Peter – thank you. We will share this forward on your behalf. In regards to your other question about the abandoned vehicle – we are looking into it and will let you know what we hear back. Thanks again!

  2. We lost a flagged here in the Okanagan it devastated a lot of people, yet there were several people I spoke with that were unaware that such a tragedy had even happened. Slow down people I want my mom to come home.

  3. I wonder whether the variable speed limit signs were being used on Friday on the Coquihalla to warn traffic approaching the line backed up by the lane closure for paving?

      • Hi Nick, our operations manager for that area tells me that, yes, there was notification on the overhead changeable message signs on the Coq, to warn of the construction (paving) ahead.

  4. Wow – CONE ZONES
    This echo’s of the “British Cone alert hotline”, which after its introduction resulted in numerous calls to the NHS to report injured cones on public highways, before the concept was finally abandoned.
    It appears that having given WorkSafe BC and its buddies control over workers safety, many traffic control companies have taken it upon themselves to overdue the number of cones and markers placed in our work zones.
    This has lead to considerable confusion among drivers, many can not even determine which way they are to go, while others panic and try to get out of the seas of orange as fast as they can.
    The safety of workers relies on professionalism of the TCP, not girlie’s wandering about these very work-sites chatting with or watching workers doing their jobs. They need to pay attention to traffic and work with professionalism not attitude giving they are of an opinion they have authority.
    If we want to improve safety, we also have to limit the number of work zones operating along roads and routes to a minimum at any one time.
    Not only will this improve safety, but will provide for ongoing work opportunities for all, rather than just short seasonal work.

    • Its funny, as so many people complain about the condition of the highway and how our aging infrastructure needs upgrading and improvement, yet you would like us to reduce the number of work zone and extend the time it takes to perform maintenance activities, stretching out jobs and limited how much is done at once. Regarding the professionalism of flaggers, flaggers are not to be posted on the road unless they are actively directing traffic. That is WorkSafeBC law.

      If you disobey the direction of a flagger, you can be issued a motor vehicle act violation. They aren’t there pretending to have authority, they are there to ensure motorists don’t get themselves into a pickle, holding traffic only when they have to, not maliciously. Often the spacing of cones is reduced because, in our experience, if there is a gap then a car will go into it. For example, I have a large digital message sign on the back of my truck. It was flashing in 12″ letters, “ROAD CLOSED, TURN AROUND”. This was at an accident scene on a small arterial road in Kelowna. A driver, having driven past everyone else turning around, drove past me and then came up to Kelowna Fire Dept large Rescue 1. Rescue 1 was parked across the 2 lanes of traffic, which is a damn good sign that the road is closed. What did this driver do? Turn around? No, heck no. This driver took to he ditch and went around the front of the Rescue truck, right as a firefighter was coming around to retrieve rescue tools from cabinets on this side of the truck. A good smack of the cars hood and some clear instruction, then the car backed up and went the direction from which they came.

      Traffic control is like herding kittens or cattle. If you leave a space, one will go thru and 15 will follow. Remember, the majority of drivers don’t use their brains, and it makes traffic control interesting. One minute you have someone driving the wrong way through your traffic zone, the next you have lifted trucks trying to blow black smoke at you, semi truck drivers running over every single cone then flipping you the bird, folks bringing you coffee and donuts, or slushies, followed by honking, screaming and tires squealing. And all of this before your first coffee break. Never a dull moment – and it is the reason using a flagger is a last resort, and its better to set up a zone that required no instruction. While you may see flaggers lives as of less value than your time, the opposite is true. Drive safe, leave the phone alone and always obey speed limits.

  5. I am a tow truck driver on the north shore and Squamish highway and my complaint is people are NOT obeying the law regarding stopped tow and emergency vehicles , which is to slow to 60kmh and move over…we are out here trying to help motorists but not to risk our lives in doing so.

    • Brad, just the other day I was stopped behind a police suv, 4 bylaw officers and a fire engine on highway 97 in Kelowna. I placed 2 signs, 100m apart. They were 1m x 1m and said “SLOW DOWN AND MOVE OVER”. More people changed lanes into the lane that should be empty then those who moved over as they should. And just when you see 4 or 5 vehicles in the left lane, where they should be, another driver sees it as a wonderful opportunity to exceed the speed limit, past all of those slowly moving vehicles who, by chance, we not occupying the lane adjacent to workers.

      Just when you think there is hope, it all gets killed by the next vehicle in line. I suggest buying a body camera and a dash camera, posting your experiences to youtube and sharing those experiences with anyone who will listen. Tag (ex #CVSE) organizations with some pull, in the description of those videos and hope that somewhere along the way, someone will be impacted and maybe some change will come. Automated photo enforcement of the slow down move over laws, with the equipment mounted to your truck – a good start. Actual enforcement of the law – a great start or, our best chance – automated vehicles sooner than later.

      I do have one other suggestion, if you can get ahold of me. It is new to the scene in Canada but has great success. I am in Kelowna.