NORFOLK, Va. — You may see some barrel monsters comprised of traffic drums popping up throughout Norfolk.
The barrel monsters, Burghy, Binker, and Seymour, are spending the week reminding drivers to stay safe in work zones.
“The barrel monsters are really to grab the motorists attention as they are coming through a work zone. Every year we try to position the barrel monsters in an active work zone or as close to an active work zone as we can,” said Bob Delahaya, a safety supervisor with Norfolk’s Public Works Department.
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This week marks National Work Zone Awareness Week. Right now, the American Traffic Safety Services Foundation has a running memorial that is inscribed with more than 1,600 names of people who have been killed in work zone tragedies.
Crashes in work zones are something I also see quite often as a traffic anchor.
“It’s never a worker that’s in that picture. It is vehicles, semis, regular automobiles, because they didn’t pay attention to the work zone, which is very unfortunate,” Delahaya told News 3.
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Just look at I-64 in Hampton where the Virginia Department of Transportation is working on the Hampton Roads Express Lane Project, we saw one there as recently as Wednesday morning near the interchange with Rip Rap Road. Another example is the I-64 interchange with Tidewater Drive in Norfolk, where a crash seems to occur there on a regular basis.
So, if you see these monsters out on your commute, slow down, pay attention, and follow the law.
“If they potentially miss those advanced warning signs, they’re not paying attention to the cars in front of them, they’re not paying attention to the fact that the speed limit has been reduced. They’re just setting themselves up for a bad situation,” Delahaya said.
