Stay safe and ticket free in McHenry County road construction zones

They’re all around us. The road construction season is in full bloom here in McHenry County and beyond. And road construction requires adjustments to our driving styles.

In McHenry County, many of the road construction projects are in towns and cities. Some of the construction projects are on country roads, too. Some of the projects are municipal road resurfacing projects. More are Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) projects. But, whoever is running the project, or wherever the work is done, one thing is true.

You need to slow down in those construction zones

Illinois is one of the states with the highest number of road construction workers killed by drivers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The overwhelming majority are killed by drivers in automobiles.

Inevitably, fatal injuries to workers at road construction sites, when workers are hit by passing vehicles, are the result of driver error. The driver has done something wrong to cause the accident. But those hurt in the accidents aren’t always the construction workers.

Drivers are injured or killed in road construction zones, too. Drivers can become confused by changes in traffic patterns or narrowing lanes. To stay safe in a construction zone, and ensure the safety of road workers, drivers need to be attentive – more attentive than usual.

Not only do drivers have to adjust to road changes caused by road construction but they also have to be alert for other drivers who aren’t doing such a good job with that.

Slowing down is a great place to start and is almost universally the law in road construction zones. Slowing down gives drivers more time to react to changing road conditions.

In Illinois, drivers can only use a cell phone while driving if it is hands free. The penalty for doing otherwise in a road construction zone is substantially steeper.

Mixing driving with drugs or alcohol is not wise, either. Add a road construction zone to the mix and the danger is heightened all around.

The penalties are higher in road construction zones

In Illinois, drivers are required to obey construction speed zones whether road workers are present or not. The minimum fine, for the first offense, is $375. That goes up to $1,000 for the second offense.

Get caught speeding in a road construction zone in Illinois twice in one year and you’ll lose your license for 90 days.

The summer is a great time to get out on the road and go somewhere, whether you stay in McHenry County or not. But there’s more road construction in the summer than at any other time of year. It’s worth it to slow down and pay attention.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog