The European Day Awareness campaign is intended to draw attention on highway workers and emergency services personnel working for the safety and comfort of drivers on the highway. The European tolling concessionaires body, ASECAP, has declared June 20th 2023 as the day on which the road safety of highway personnel should be considered.
This is necessary as there is a significant increase in crashes involving highway maintenance workers who are vulnerable people. These crashes mainly concern motorway patrollers- but also all other persons working on highways for the safety of all, including emergency service personnel and those from towing companies.
Most often, these crashes occur in the middle of the day, on sections with good visibility, while the intervention vehicles' signalling equipment is active and clearly visible (rotating lights, luminous arrows on the roof of the vans, cones). These crashes are frequently the consequence of episodes of drowsiness or inattention from drivers who are diverted from the road by dangerous use of screens.
Highway companies warn of these risky behaviours that endanger the lives of patrollers and drivers. They call for the mobilisation of all actors for a change in behaviour and awareness of the danger caused using screens.
Road safety for highway maintenance workers, to ensure the safety of drivers on motorways, is a top priority for road infrastructure operators.
Building on the Salzburg 2023 ASECAP Road Safety Days, it is acknowledged that, among other things, getting to know one another better is essential to enhancing mutual respect. The (S)He Works I Care campaign may raise awareness by organizing events like this one, which is supported by ASECAP. This operation, which is becoming increasingly successful, has already been put into practice in several countries in recent years.
Ensuring the safety of patrollers through prevention and enhancing the bond between them and drivers – among whom professional drivers play a key role - is the red wire of the awareness campaign.
