June 12, 2008

Canadian Construction Association –
Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Council Meeting

New Brunswick’s “Slow Please” program delivers results

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

Canadian roadbuilders and heavy constructors recently learned how New Brunswick reduced its highway work zone accidents by 40 per cent in just two years.

Tracey Burkhardt, director of communications at the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, spoke at the recent Canadian Construction Association’s roadbuilders and heavy construction council meeting in Toronto to explain why the Slow Please campaign was launched.

“We were receiving a lot of anecdotal evidence that traffic was moving faster and faster every day [near work zones],” said Burkhardt.

New Brunswick averaged 44 accidents annually around road and highway construction zones. In 2005, the year that prompted the launch of the campaign in 2006; accidents had jumped to 55 from 42.

The Partners for Safe Highway Construction partnership was formed to help tackle work zone safety. This partnership included the Province of New Brunswick, the Road Builders Association of New Brunswick, MRDC Operations Corp., Brun-Way Construction Inc., Brun-Way Highways Operations Inc., and the New Brunswick Construction Safety Association.

The partnership aimed to increase safety in highway construction zones for workers and the general public through public education, appropriate signage, and the training of workers. The province issued a request for proposals by invitation from 12 pre-qualified communication firms.

The three-year campaign which was developed urged drivers to “Slow Please” because someone’s father, mother, brother or fiancée was at work in a construction zone. The bilingual messages were primarily delivered through radio advertisements in the first year and roadside billboards, said Burkhardt. A Web site was also developed.

“We wanted to reach people when they were driving and thinking about driving,” said Burkhardt.

A survey of drivers before the campaign was launched found that 23 per cent of respondents admitted to speeding in work zones. Nineteen per cent of admitted speeders said they were merely keeping up with traffic and 18 per cent said they sped because they saw no workers in and around the work zone.

“What we learned was that drivers had become desensitized, workers were not relevant and they were seen as objects,” added Burkhardt.

The $300,000 campaign began to pay immediate dividends by 2006 after just one year, reported Burkhardt. Work zone accidents fell to 22 in 2006 and in 2007 they reached 23. A survey conducted after the first year of the campaign found that 22 per cent of drivers had become more cautious in work zones and 21 per cent had slowed down.

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