Jeff Romine and his family.
KDOT
employee Jeff Romine shared his story in 2018 about the need for work zone safety.
He has continued to serve as the Area Five Superintendent in District
One, and he has now been with KDOT nearly 42 years.
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My name is
Jeff Romine, I am currently the Area Five Superintendent in Wamego. I have
worked for the Kansas Department of Transportation for 35 years. I
started out as an Equipment Operator in 1983.
Safety has
been improved for KDOT employees and for the public a great deal since I first
started working for KDOT. For example, I can remember having to set up six
signs when setting up a work zone, three on each side. Now,
depending on the situation, there may be a combination of 10 signs, cones and
rumble strips to alert traffic of a pending work site.
During
my tenure at KDOT, I have seen many close calls ranging from cars hitting
the flagman’s flagging paddle to the mirrors of cars striking workers in the
work zone. I have been lucky enough not to see any deaths as a result of a
work zone crash, although there have been some.
One of the
crashes that stands out in my mind happened in the summer of 1986 on U.S. 75.
We were providing traffic control while Equipment Operators using equipment
cleaned bridge decks. All our work signs were up and flagmen in the correct
locations.
I was helping
to provide traffic control; it was a clear mid-morning day. I stopped a
van to allow traffic to pass through from the other lane. I then moved closer
to the center of the roadway and checked for other oncoming traffic.
I noticed a
car that seemed to be moving faster than I considered to be safe. I realized he
was not slowing so I tried to get his attention by waving the paddle as there
was still traffic coming from the other direction.
I alerted the
driver of the van of the oncoming car, and I was forced to jump over the guard
rail and into the ditch. The car hit the van from behind, causing the back of
the van to bust open. The van was carrying a load of bagged
walnuts. Immediately the highway was covered with walnuts. I
ran back out to check on the drivers of both vehicles, thankfully finding them
not severely injured.
As other
vehicles continued in the other lane, they were running over the walnuts
causing them to shoot through the air, this of course caused another danger as
the walnuts pounded workers and other cars.
I can laugh
about it now and joke that 32 years later, walnuts still haunt me. But the
seriousness of that situation will never be funny. An adult could have been in
the back of that van. Or a child. And they could have been injured, or worse.
Please drive
safe in work zones and protect everyone – motorists and highway workers.
Thanks for your 40+ years of service, Jeff! What a story! Distracted driving has existed since the first car was made, long before cell phones became common. Hopefully, that incident alerted the driver to the need to watch the road more closely in order to avoid injuring themselves or others. - Patricia Middleton
ReplyDeleteI agree, the walnuts shooting through the air sounds funny, but the crash could have just as easily injured or killed someone. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to maintain the highways.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your powerful message and public service, Jeff. Behind every orange barrel, cone or flag are real Kansans doing essential work to help all of us. They deserve our full attention and respect every time we pass through a work zone.
ReplyDeleteThis! Thank you, KDOT!
DeleteJeff, thank you for sharing your story and for your many of service to the people of Kansas. Your post is a powerful reminder that every cone, sign, and flag in a work zone is there for a reason: to protect lives.
ReplyDeleteThe story you told about the walnut truck is both startling and sobering. It's a vivid example of how quickly things can go wrong, even when all the right precautions are in place. You and your crew did everything you could—signage, flaggers, awareness—and yet one inattentive driver still put multiple lives at risk. The fact that no one was seriously hurt that day is a testament to your quick thinking and the effectiveness of your training, but it's also a reminder that not every story ends that way.
Work zones are dynamic and dangerous places. Behind every safety vest is a person—a mother, father, neighbor, friend—just trying to do their job and get home safely. We’ve come a long way in improving safety protocols, but the responsibility doesn’t just fall on KDOT or highway workers. It’s on every driver to slow down, pay attention, and respect the work zones they pass through. A few extra seconds of patience can save a life.
Stories like yours bring awareness in a way no sign ever could. Thank you for sharing it—and thank you for reminding all of us what’s truly at stake on our roads.
You have come far my friend, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteJeff, thank you for your service at KDOT and for sharing this story, as crazy as the walnuts shooting through the air sounds it would also be a very scary situation to be in. Your experiences and knowledge are invaluable, stories like yours help to humanize KDOT and remind motorists of the importance of driving alert and paying close attention to the road, especially in work zones!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeff, for sharing this and for helping others to stay safe.
ReplyDelete