Cars And Work Zones: Safety In The City Of Perpetual Construction
 

If you live in Las Vegas, you’ve probably heard all the jokes concerning the constant construction. There’s so much construction on the roads that most locals have become aware of the network of backroads and side streets used to bypass the busiest and slowest traffic.

But say you’re in a hurry and you decide to take Flamingo, Sahara, or the I-15 because you don’t have time to think about how to get there, but rather about just getting there. 10 minutes later, traffic starts slowing down and lanes begin to merge. You’ve already figured it out; you’re about to enter a construction zone.

As much as this “state-sponsored trap” has made you late and ruined your day, one way to make it worse is by giving into your rage and causing an accident.

This can either be by causing a collision with another vehicle, the construction area itself, or worse, driving into a construction worker, thus seriously injuring him or killing him in turn. The consequences stemming from the situation will make you wish you calmed down and waited as many traffic violation penalties are double when inside a work area.

Nobody likes to wait in work zones, but if you’re looking to avoid any personal injury damage claims here are a couple of pragmatic tips to keep in mind while passing through:

1. Expect the unexpected: In heavily congested traffic, visibility of what’s around you is drastically reduced. Anything can happen and you may not see something until the last second.
2. Stay defensive at all times: A segue from the first tip, you may not be aware of an agent for a potential collision until the last second, meaning you’ll have to make split-second decisions once the threat reveals itself. It’s better to stay on your guard than to lazily move through the work zone despite the opportunity to do so.
3. Stay in the speed limit and be patient: It sucks, but no matter how crafty and precise your driving skills are, once you entered the work zone, your fate was sealed and your going to have to wait to get through.

Even if you figured out a quick maneuver to help save one or two minutes of commute time, you need to ask yourself, “Do I really want to risk causing an accident for one or two minutes?

You may be mad now, but remember you’re not alone. Everyone trapped in the zone is frustrated, but if you cause an accident, things will become a whole lot worse for everyone and all those people will have switched the direction of their hatred from the construction zone to you.