FULLY AWARE

摘要

Sumpter was part of a district committee who looked for ways to increase safety awareness for VDOT employees— specifically in roadway work zones. The district decided to try his idea in 1997 at the start of the construction year. For the first time ever, all eyes were on work zones that April. Based on the positive reception of the idea in the district, a VDOT task group met and developed plans to do it again as a statewide program in the spring of 1998. David Rush, a VDOT senior transportation engineer, was part of that task group. Rush had the willingness and desire to help spread VDOT's message even further, with hopes of taking the message nationally. He took the idea to the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). Rush shared the idea with ATSSA's Safety and Public Awareness Committee, and from there the rest is history. Over the years that followed, the work-zone safety and awareness message would not only spread nationally, it would reach into other audiences beyond roadway workers, including America's motorists, elected officials, schools, law enforcement and the media.