TRURO, N.S. — Heather Fisher is trying to keep people safe, but every day she’s seeing drivers whose carelessness is endangering others.
Fisher works in traffic control when work is being done on roads, and often has people drive past when she had the stop sign facing toward them.
“Every day somebody’s running a paddle,” she said. “We have all these signs leading up to a site, there are cones around and we’re wearing big yellow vests. How do they not see us?
“The other day we were working on Elm Street and a woman went right through to get into Subway. There was a van coming from the other end and I pictured kids in the van ending up injured. Luckily, there was no accident, but it could easily have happened. I’ve been doing this 12 years and I’ve seen quite a few close calls.”
Some of her co-workers have seen accidents at their work sites
Fisher also sees many drivers who don’t slow down or who are on mobile phones.
Traffic control personnel are not only holding signs; they’re helping people cross roads and they’re looking out for the safety of everyone in the area.
“It’s a dangerous job and things are getting worse,” she said. “A lot of workers have kids at home and those kids want their parents home at the end of the day. If people would just follow the rules, we would all be safer.”
The most commonly issued ticket regarding temporary work areas is for failing to obey a traffic control person directing traffic. It comes with a $410 fine.
