National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The key message is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones.
NWZAW 2025 will be held April 21-25, hosted by North Carolina Department of Transportation. NWZAW highlights the deadly dangers of inattention at highway work areas.
The 2025 weeklong commemoration includes:
- Work Zone Safety Training Day - April 21
- National kickoff event - April 22
- Go Orange Day - April 23
- Social media storm - April 24
- Moment of Silence - April 25. The moment of silence was started in 2022 to remember the men and women whose lives were lost in a work zone incident.
In 2022, 891 people died in work zones, according to the NHTSA FARS data. Also in 2022, 94 highway worker occupational fatalities occurred in road construction sites, based on BLS data. Newer data and additional statistics will be available at a later date on WorkZoneSafety.org.
What many fail to recognize is the vast majority of people killed in work zone crashes are motorists and their passengers. In 2022, 742 drivers and their passengers died in work zones (based on NHTSA FARS data), making it all the more important for drivers to slow down and stay focused while approaching and passing through a roadway work zone.
Additional Resources:
- ATSS Foundation - National Work Zone Safe Teen Driver program
- CDC/NIOSH - Distracted driving and risk factors; Motor vehicle safety at work; and Parents are the key to safe teen drivers
- OSHA - Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes
- NSC - Safe Driving Kit
- NHTSA - Distracted Driving (Distraction.gov)
- WHO - Mobile phone use: a growing problem of driver distraction
- FHWA - Work Zone Facts and Statistics
- FMCSA - Work Zone Safety: Shareable Material
- National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse - WorkZoneSafety.org