Work Zone Safety - From a Widow's Perspective

A plea - from the wife of Dennis Beard, who was killed in an Illinois work zone in 2012. Let her words sound in your ears any time you see construction or flashing yellow lights.


This (click to see photos) is my husband, Dennis. The most important part of his life was his family and friends. Second was his work. Dennis was very passionate about his work, the people who worked for him, and their safety and well being. On May 22nd Dennis, his nephews Kory Links and Adam Evans, and his friend Brian Moore were all struck by a vehicle while doing their jobs. Dennis was killed by this driver whom was driving dangerously and erratically at a high rate of speed in a construction zone. Dennis was not killed instantly, but lived a very short while, alert and thinking he was going to survive. Because of one person's negligence, Dennis' precious life was taken from us and the lives of his family have been changed forever.

I cannot explain the devastation this has caused our family. We lost our dear Dennis - a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a great-uncle, a cousin, and a friend to many, many people. If you just try to imagine what it would be like to have to come home and tell your children who walk in the door smiling that their dad was just killed at work - you would think about how IMPORTANT it is to pay attention and slow down in work zones. Our family will never be the same because of the constant pain we feel and the huge hole we now have in our family and hearts.

Please let me tell you a little bit about Dennis. Most importantly, Dennis was not ready to leave this earth. He had many things left unfinished. He has three children - Tessa age 12, James 8, and Alayna 4. He just recently involved his children and nephews in go-kart racing. Dennis spent every waking hour outside of work working on the go-karts for the next following week’s race. He loved the outdoors and wanted his kids to love it too. He took them boating, camping, hunting, snowmobiling, four-wheeling, racing, and most recently they began fishing together. Dennis had a big heart and was always very giving to everyone he knew and met.

The single most important thing that you can do for our family and other families who have loved ones working on the roads is to be patient, pay attention, and slow down in construction zones. Everyone wants their loved ones to return home every single day from work. My husband left for work and was gone from this earth three hours later. We didn’t even have a chance to say good bye.

Sincerely,
Josie Beard

See pictures of Dennis, Josie and their family here.

Anita's Close Call Story - That Little Voice

Anita of Springfield, Mo., asked to share her story. It sounds familiar to many of us who have struggled with the temptation to multi-task while driving. If you have a story about transportation that you would like to share, please contact us at socialmedia@modot.mo.gov.

It was a typical Tuesday; the work day is over and like a lot of families it’s time to hustle the kids to evening activities. I pick up my son around 5:30 pm and head to the high school. He wants to go to the game. I need to pick my daughter up at 6:00 pm from dance class so the timing is just right. After dropping him off at the game it’s onto dance. Taking Battlefield Road to Highway 65 seems to be the logical route so that’s the direction I choose. Lots of traffic, stop and go, it’s evening rush hour. Bummer, this is going to take awhile.

To pass the time I decide to make a call. I’ll just maneuver through traffic while chatting, something I do often, and the 10 minute drive to dance class won’t seem so daunting. I grab my phone. But as I’m turning onto the exit ramp, a little voice in my head suggests I probably should pay attention to what I’m doing. It’s not like I had anything earth shattering to discuss, so I toss the phone down onto the passenger seat.

I merge onto Highway 65, within seconds traffic is up to full speed. Bumper to bumper, vehicles switching lanes, you know the drill. I’m staying in the right lane as I’ll be exiting shortly onto James River Freeway. Like most people behind the wheel at this time my mind is reviewing the day’s events and calculating what’s left to do.

I glance ahead and notice the car in front of me is breaking, so I tap mine too but quickly let off in order to keep the pace. A fraction of a second passes, I glance again and realize the car isn’t breaking; it’s at a dead stop. Moving at nearly 65 mph, I slam on my breaks. The car in front of me juts out to the right shoulder just in time to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of it and to avoid being hit by me. My view instantly shifts to the rear view mirror, and in the next second I notice a pickup truck behind me and hear its screeching breaks. The truck swerves to the right shoulder to avoid impact and I manage to come to a jolting stop with only inches to spare. After breathing a quick sigh of relief I then see a huge truck barreling toward me... I close my eyes and brace for impact.

In these few seconds of shear panic, the all-important moments of my life, my family, my kids, all of it really did flash before my eyes. I couldn’t believe this is how it was all going to end. Was I ready?

No impact. My eyes open and see that the truck has stopped. I exhale, and begin to slowly move forward. About half a dozen car lengths ahead I see what’s caused this near miss. It’s a plastic chair partially blocking the right hand lane. I’m disturbed that this little plastic chair almost caused a terrible accident. I exit onto James River Freeway and say a few thank-you prayers.

Suddenly, it becomes clear to me the message this close call had truly intended. The plastic chair hadn’t almost caused the accident. It wasn’t about the chair at all.
If I had made the choice to make that call seconds earlier, I would have been distracted; I would not have been able to stop. If anyone involved would have been talking, texting or updating their social media status, they would have not been able to stop. This accident was avoided simply because I listened to the voice that whispered to me, "Pay attention."

Using our phones while driving is manageable, right? Accidents won’t happen to us, we’re good drivers, right? Wrong. Distracted driving can cause serious accidents, injuries, and death. It happens every day.

I encourage you to give merit to the little voice you hear and think twice the next time it nudges you, as mine did. Doing so could very possibly could save your life and the lives of others.

Anita

Be Thankful for Safe Travel

Like many other Missourians, my family and I will be traveling Wednesday to visit our family for Thanksgiving. Also like your family, we have traditions that must be upheld – the bountiful food of course (and not a chicken casserole like my mom tried to pass off as the Thanksgiving meal one year), and sharing what we are thankful for before the big meal this Thursday. Although there are many things I can list, I am most thankful that we will all be together. And while that may seem obvious, for 280 Missouri families it is not the case – their family members died last year as a result of impaired driving crashes.

Impaired driving continues to be a grave problem in Missouri and around the country leaving a human toll of lost lives, grief-stricken family and friends, injuries and disabilities that never go away. Over the last five years in Missouri, 1,348 people have been killed in impaired driving crashes and thousands more injured.

And the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be an especially dangerous time of year on the roads. Between the two holidays in 2009, 88 people died in traffic crashes in Missouri (21 were alcohol-related) and 4,650 were injured (with 343 related to alcohol).

Some contend that those drinking and driving are simply hurting and killing themselves, but a substantial number of people killed or injured in these crashes are innocent victims. In fact, 31 percent of the fatalities and 40 percent of the injuries occurred to some other party involved in the crash – not the drinking driver or pedestrian.

So what can we do? Each of us can take the responsibility to drive sober, call a cab or designate a driver while celebrating this holiday season and urge all our friends and family to do the same. If you’ve had a personal experience with an impaired driving crash, you can share it with others on a special remembrance page at facebook.com/humantoll in hopes that more education will help others to not drive impaired and other families will be spared such tragedies.

When you get to your Thanksgiving meal this year, be thankful you got there safely and let’s all work together to Arrive Alive.

Working Together for Work Zone Safety

MoDOT and Missouri State Highway Patrol team up to keep work zones safe for everyone. Watch Trooper Kyle Green as he stops motorists that have been speeding in a work zone.

Working together, MoDOT and the MSHP show you why it is so important to stay alert and pay attention while driving in a work zone.