Forget that stuff about the arrival of the first robins and daffodils. If you're a professional truck driver, there is no such season as Spring. There are just two seasons. One is Winter. The other is "Construction."
And, as do all other motorists, they know the latter is here when those long lines of orange barrels, constricting rows of concrete walls, and diamond-shaped "Road Work Ahead" signs start popping up all along the highways and byways.
Across the U.S., the arrival of April -- and warmer weather -- generally kicks off highway construction season. With it comes increased traffic congestion and the temptation by far too many drivers to take unnecessary and unsafe chances behind the wheel. To help them safely navigate the soon to be thousands of work zones, the American Trucking Associations' Road Team, an elite group of truck drivers, is offering passenger car drivers common-sense advice gathered from driving millions of accident-free miles.
In a press release sent out this week to the media, ATA offered suggestions such as doubling following distance, getting into the correct lane well in advance, paying close attention to construction equipment operating in a work zone, and watching out for narrow lanes and uneven or sloped road surfaces.
Some of the most colorful advice regards cars that race ahead to get ahead of slowing traffic where traffic is merging into a single lane. Truck drivers call these unsafe motorists "zippers," according to ATA, after the way they zip in and out of slowing traffic, endangering other motorists who are obeying the work zone signs.
The Road Team experts add that "zippers" likely never think of how they are endangering themselves, their families, or other motorists when they cut quickly in front of a large truck at a work zone merge site, and then suddenly have to slow down. It is perhaps the most dangerous traffic offense they could commit. This type of behavior in a cramped construction site endangers not only truck and car drivers, but highway workers as well.
While the ATA release doesn't mention it, truckers have been known to block both lanes of traffic as they approach a lane-merge situation to prevent "zippers" from doing their thing.
"In a work zone, patience behind the wheel has to be priority one," says William Canary, ATA President and CEO. "Sooner or later, the work zones and traffic jams are going to end, so a split second burst of aggressive driving in a cramped construction zone just isn't worth the often-tragic consequences."
And, as do all other motorists, they know the latter is here when those long lines of orange barrels, constricting rows of concrete walls, and diamond-shaped "Road Work Ahead" signs start popping up all along the highways and byways.
Across the U.S., the arrival of April -- and warmer weather -- generally kicks off highway construction season. With it comes increased traffic congestion and the temptation by far too many drivers to take unnecessary and unsafe chances behind the wheel. To help them safely navigate the soon to be thousands of work zones, the American Trucking Associations' Road Team, an elite group of truck drivers, is offering passenger car drivers common-sense advice gathered from driving millions of accident-free miles.
In a press release sent out this week to the media, ATA offered suggestions such as doubling following distance, getting into the correct lane well in advance, paying close attention to construction equipment operating in a work zone, and watching out for narrow lanes and uneven or sloped road surfaces.
Some of the most colorful advice regards cars that race ahead to get ahead of slowing traffic where traffic is merging into a single lane. Truck drivers call these unsafe motorists "zippers," according to ATA, after the way they zip in and out of slowing traffic, endangering other motorists who are obeying the work zone signs.
The Road Team experts add that "zippers" likely never think of how they are endangering themselves, their families, or other motorists when they cut quickly in front of a large truck at a work zone merge site, and then suddenly have to slow down. It is perhaps the most dangerous traffic offense they could commit. This type of behavior in a cramped construction site endangers not only truck and car drivers, but highway workers as well.
While the ATA release doesn't mention it, truckers have been known to block both lanes of traffic as they approach a lane-merge situation to prevent "zippers" from doing their thing.
"In a work zone, patience behind the wheel has to be priority one," says William Canary, ATA President and CEO. "Sooner or later, the work zones and traffic jams are going to end, so a split second burst of aggressive driving in a cramped construction zone just isn't worth the often-tragic consequences."
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