New DVD drives home the message on road worker safety. Slow down and give 'em room says Biglorryblog!

Hellooo...what on earth's going on here? Looks like something crashing into an operating theatre. It's not Jeremy Clarkson again it it? (And keep those blog posts on Top Gear coming. So far the terrible threesome appear to have got a collective thumbs up from you rather than a thumbs down.). But back to the above. It's actually part of a new Highways Agency campaign to remind all drivers to treat roadside workers with respect. Indeed to protect the lives of the 4,000 or so roadside workers (that's one for every mile of motorway) the Highways Agency has produced a no-holds-barred DVD containing a hard-hitting short film called "Respect".

Voiced over by TV presenter Nick Ross it highlights why drivers need to take extra care when driving close to roadside workers and how a laspe in concentration can have fatal consequences. The "Respect" film shows a car crashing through a busy classroom, an operating theatre during surgery and then into a coned off part of a road where a roadcrew is at work - whereupon it collides with a road worker. The longer "5 seconds" film focuses on the driver on business and the possible cost of their actions at road works. The bottom line is that road workers deserve space and respect to do their work as much as other professionals.

And if you think it's an easy job consider this. Between 2003 and 2007, 10 roadworkers were killed and 81 were seriously injured while working on motorways and major A roads in England. However, it's not just a matter of death or injury that roadside workers have to live with----it's also the threat of verbal and even physical abuse.

For example, the most recent survey of 400 road workers on England's motorways and major A roads, found that

• 77% had suffered verbal abuse from passing drivers
• 54% had experienced a near miss with a vehicle
• 40% had had objects being deliberately thrown at them (e.g. coins, cans)
• 3% had suffered a slight personal injury (e.g. bruising)
• 3% had suffered a major personal injury (e.g. broken nose)
• Moreover 89% thought that drivers had accidents at roadworks as they were driving too fast, while 76% thought is was down to the drivers' lack of concentration
• A further 73% blamed it on drivers not reading road signs.

"Cones, barriers, signs and reduced speed limits are there for a reason" says the HA, "to protect our workers from danger and keep the public safe. We urge all drivers to pay close attention to safety when driving near roadworks." Hear, here says BLB. Now click through here for more...