The Highways Agency has issued a sternly worded warning on the mortal perils of roadworks. Their message, in a nutshell, is avoid them like the plague. To help you do exactly this, they have very considerately added some info to their website that will help you do so.
A thousand people are injured or killed at the site of roadworks each year, in over 700 accidents, prompting the Highwaymen to issue the following guidance notes for drivers:
Plan ahead, leave extra journey time, don’t drive on big roads with roadworks, but if you must: take care, stick to the speed limit, get in the correct lane in good time, don’t switch lane, concentrate on the road ahead, don’t gawp at the bollards, be alert to heavy plant, keep a safe distance, look out for queues ahead, and lots of other things you’d never have thought of for yourself.
But if you think it’s bad for all those motorists weaving their way down too-narrow curvy cone-lanes, spare a thought for the roadside worker who stands a one in a thousand chance of getting killed – making his the 16th most hazardous occupation in the UK (worst than joining the army).
