“Reducing speed from 75 MPH to 45 MPH through a five mile construction zone will cost you 2 minutes and 40 seconds. This is not too high a price to pay to save your life.”
Exactly right.
You are dead on to the dangers In a construction zone. No car or light truck will ever win a fight with a backhoe, paving rig or a dump truck.
But people routinely act like idiots in construction zones.
Over the years I drove long haul I had many near misses in construction zones.
I would do my best to keep a safe following distance only to have cars, two or three at a time, swoop in front of me forcing me to brake hard.
People just do not consider their own mortality. The few seconds they hope to save seem more precious.
I-80 past the south side of Chicago was under construction for several years. Whenever possible I tried to go through late at night to avoid the insane traffic.
One evening I was east bound through the zone when I saw the worst accident ever.
A flat bed hauling coils of steel was in the leftmost west bound lane when three or four cars swooped in front of him forcing the trucker to lock the brakes and steer right hoping to avoid a direct impact.
Unfortunately the front coil of steel broke loose and flew straight ahead.
The four people in the car died instantly. No hope whatever that anyone could have survived. There was blood everywhere.
The steel coil continued to roll over the hood and struck the next car. What damage it did there I didn’t see.
I pulled off at the next exit just in time to empty my stomach.
I think I will do the limit in construction zones from now on. I have my middle finger ready in case the guy behind me gets impatient.