Caltrans pays tribute to fallen highway workers with signs across the state.
To Honor Fallen Team Members: Caltrans Installs Memorial Signs
To honor fallen team members, Caltrans has begun installing memorial signs in roadside rest areas, public spaces, and along California state highways. These signs serve as a poignant remembrance of workers who have tragically lost their lives in the line of duty since 1921, including seven individuals in Orange County.
“[Caltrans] lives are literally at stake every day,” Caltrans Director Tony Tavares emphasized in a recent media release. “I implore all Californians to please slow down and move over in every work zone, every time.”
Picture this: on a recent night along the 55 freeway, a dented sedan recklessly zoomed past a merging line of cars, narrowly avoiding safety cones meant to protect a group of Caltrans workers conducting roadside repairs.
“Distracted drivers pose a huge risk not only to themselves and other motorists, but to our co-workers in the field,” emphasized Caltrans Director Ryan Chamberlain, who oversees the Orange County area, in a recent media release. “Please be work zone alert and help us ensure that our co-workers return home safely to their families each day.”
Tracing back to 1895, California redeveloped its transportation department by unifying multiple functions into one entity in 1973. Caltrans—short for California Department of Transportation—would soon become the department responsible for managing and maintaining one of the nation’s most complex transit systems, according to the Caltrans website.
And its team members have one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In California alone, there were over 9,500 traffic collisions in 2021 within Caltrans highway work zones, with 30 percent of fatalities in work zones attributed to unsafe speeds, as reported by the agency.
Orange County experienced its first Caltrans casualty in 1980 when two maintenance workers were struck by an errant driver along the Anaheim stretch of the Interstate 5 freeway.
In addition to the memorial signs, Caltrans is collaborating with the California Transportation Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to the families of fallen transportation workers. Through the Fallen Workers Assistance and Memorial Fund, families can receive up to $2,500 to help cover funeral costs, travel expenses, and other uninsured expenses.
To support the children of fallen workers, Caltrans and the foundation have established a scholarship award ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. This scholarship assists surviving children in covering college expenses or pursuing accredited post-secondary school programs.
“We hold a sacred duty to remember all the people who have lost their lives working with us,” expressed Mr. Tavares, the Caltrans director.
According to a Caltrans Strategic Highway Plan report released in 2022, roadway injuries for all drivers and pedestrians along California’s highways have increased by 52 percent since 2010, with fatalities rising by 28 percent.
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