After two highway workers died on job sites within a week, a Maryland union is calling on the state to better enforce traffic laws and put up more barriers to protect highway workers.

Dipakkumar Patel, 70, and Robert Dempsey, 40, were killed in two separate vehicle accidents last week. Union leaders met with Transportation Secretary Kathryn Thomson to discuss highway work zone safety after the accidents.

Wynton Johnson, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3, which represents 26,000 state workers, said near-crash encounters are common.

"I had numerous scares myself of not being able to go home because of the way the drivers are driving," Johnson recounted. "I’ve been working with the state for numerous years, trying to get better working environments and more safety protocols."

Previous efforts to improve work zone safety include a 2024 law to increase the presence of state troopers at work zones and introduce a new tiered fine system for speed cameras.

Johnson emphasized the state must better enforce Maryland’s “Move Over” law, which requires drivers to change lanes or reduce their speed for any stopped vehicle when hazard lights, flares or cones are displayed. He also encouraged more physical barriers to better insulate highway workers from danger.

"Making sure we have more trucks out there, more barriers out there," Johnson urged. "So if they come over, they’re running into a truck instead of a person. That’s the safety issues we need to be bringing up and that’s something that’s going to help us go home."

Between 2020 and 2024, more than 6,000 work zone-related crashes took place in Maryland. They resulted in more than 2,000 injuries and 50 deaths.

Source: Public News Service