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| Rick Carson, seated in center, is surrounded by his family. |
KDOT employee Rick Carson shared his story in 2020 about the need for safety in work zones. He was
promoted to Highway Maintenance Supervisor in January, and he has worked at KDOT for 10
years.
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My name is Rick Carson, and I am the Equipment Operator
Specialist for the Syracuse Subarea office. I am coming up on my fifth year as
a KDOT employee, having served as Specialist since July 2017.
During my short tenure as a KDOT employee, I have seen quite
a few different circumstances that could have turned out very bad. I learned
from early on that the best thing you can do to keep yourself safe is to keep
your head on a constant swivel.
One of the most unforgettable experiences happened to me in
the summer of 2019. We were patching holes on K-27 in the south part of
Syracuse. The stretch of road
way is a four-lane undivided highway. The crew was
working on the inside lane of the northbound lane. We had set up our work zone
prior to beginning work with all the proper signs, cones, attenuator and a
wedge diverting traffic into the right-hand lane.
At some point that morning, I was standing along the center
line, but still in the lane we were working in. There was some debris that had
rolled over the center line, and I was going to step over the center line to
sweep it back over into the hole. I was facing the north and looked to make
sure no traffic was coming.
I never looked south because there shouldn’t have been any
traffic coming from that way, because we had our wedge set up pushing them
right. WRONG! A truck coming from the south had crossed over the double yellow
line. It was traveling north in the southbound lane and what was probably over
the speed limit.
Luckily, one of my co-workers was looking that way and was
able to get my attention, and I was able to step out of the way.
Thinking about it later that day, the one word that came to
my mind was COMPLACENT. That day, at that particular time, I had become
complacent and overly comfortable with my surroundings.
To my fellow KDOT workers, I would just like to remind you
all that no matter what you are doing, always take the extra time to look
around and make sure that you are doing it carefully. And always watch out for
your co-workers.
To the traveling public, KDOT does what they do, to try and
keep your family safe on the highways. So, in your travels, if/when you come up
on any workers, anywhere, PLEASE, slow down, move over and obey the signs.
Drive like it’s your family out there along the side of the road. Because we
ARE somebody’s family.
