Notice! React! Slow Down!

To ensure maximum safety for road workers on the concession section of the A2 motorway between Świecko and Konin, the social awareness campaign “Notice Us! React! Slow Down!” has just been launched.

In addition to traditional information activities at Motorway Rest and Service Areas (MOPs) located along the Świecko–Konin section of the A2 and communication through social media, campaign messages prepared by Autostrada Eksploatacja and Autostrada Wielkopolska will also appear on Variable Message Signs.

The aim of the campaign is to draw drivers’ special attention to people and equipment working on the road and to raise awareness that following three simple rules:

• Notice – roadworks and the people carrying them out,
• React – take your foot off the accelerator,
• Slow down – when approaching working road equipment, without waiting until the last moment,

ensures safety for both drivers and road workers.

Although driver satisfaction surveys conducted on the motorway show that over 92% of respondents rate the signage of maintenance works positively and nearly 90% declare that they comply with speed limits and slow down when approaching roadwork zones, incidents involving vehicles colliding with traffic safety devices still occur despite proper protection and warning signs.

Last year alone, Autostrada Eksploatacja recorded 14 incidents involving working road equipment on the A2 section between Świecko and Konin, including four collisions with crash cushions. According to data provided by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA), 29 incidents involving road maintenance services occurred last year on motorways under GDDKiA management, and four people were injured.

To ensure that information about roadworks reaches drivers in time, warning messages are broadcast in the work zones, alerting drivers to the presence of workers and equipment on traffic lanes. These messages are transmitted by dedicated devices installed on maintenance vehicles.

Warning message transmitters, operating similarly to CB radio broadcasts, have reduced the number of incidents involving road services in Germany by 30%. After nearly a year of testing this solution, we decided to equip all Motorway Maintenance Units with these devices – explains Wojciech Martynów, Director of Motorway Operations at Autostrada Eksploatacja.

Additionally, special energy-absorbing safety barriers fitted with warning boards are used at roadwork sites to protect both workers and motorway users.

These crash cushions, as they are commonly known, have already saved the lives of both drivers and road workers on numerous occasions, adds Wojciech Martynów.

However, for activities such as washing barriers, road signs and emergency call columns, repairing cracks caused by winter conditions, mowing the median strip or even collecting litter thrown out of vehicles, the cooperation and attention of drivers are essential to ensure the safety of maintenance crews.

That is why last year Autostrada Eksploatacja’s patrol cars and intervention vehicles were equipped with new high intensity arrow boards, allowing drivers to see them from a distance and make early decisions to change lanes.

Our observations show that this signage has proven effective. Drivers change lanes more quickly, avoiding our equipment and personnel. This applies to both passenger vehicles and trucks – summarizes Michał Malicki, Motorway Maintenance Units Coordinator.

Carrying out roadworks on a live motorway, even with the highest level of safety measures in place, is associated with significant stress and risk. Motorways and express roads are high speed routes, which is why slowing down at the right moment—without overestimating one’s abilities or relying too heavily on in vehicle systems—is so important.

In general, road safety depends on three key factors. The first is road infrastructure, which we provide at the highest possible standard, both in terms of investment and ongoing maintenance, to ensure safe and comfortable travel. The second factor is the vehicle, increasingly equipped with advanced driver assistance systems and early warning technologies. However, the most important element remains the human factor.

It is the driver who decides when to slow down and exercise special caution. Concentration and compliance with traffic regulations have the greatest impact—on the driver’s own life and health, as well as that of other road users – says Michał Pabich, Road Safety Expert at Autostrada Wielkopolska.

Road safety is a shared responsibility. Even the best infrastructure and the most advanced technologies cannot replace common sense and driver attentiveness. Conscious decisions made behind the wheel ultimately determine whether a journey ends safely.