Working near road

[topnotchtree]

Not quite sure where to post this, here or the injury thread, but just wanted to share some thoughts of roadside working. OK, well maybe I just wanted to complain a bit about drivers. Just recently worked along a busy 4 lane divided roadway. We had all work signs posted, cones out, and everyone had on our safety vests. It still angers me to watch people speed past the truck without missing a beat. Whats worse is when a car comes down the road in the lane nearest the truck, with 2 wide open lanes next to him where he could move over and give the work area some room, and chooses to stay in his lane and zoom past the truck. I believe part of drivers training should be to have the person stand next to a cone and have another student driver drive a car past him at about 60 mph. , missing him by 2 feet!

 

[clearance]

topnotch-I get so mad sometimes working on the roadside that I want to drag people out of thier cars and make them feel like Rodney King. Gets so that you start to hate people because they have no regard for you or the flag girls lives. I found that deliberatly placing branches on the road so people have to drive over them or they have so little room to drive past without hitting them makes them slowdown. It also seems to work when you adjust the cones to "squeeze" people. I like to have a pickup between the chipper and traffic, its even better to drive the trim truck down the road the wrong way so the guys feeding the chipper are o.k.. It amazes me that people don't seem to see all the signs, cones and flashing lights on the big truck, untill they are right there, speeding. On a positive note I always try to wave at the people who slow down and smile at us, usually only old people and truckers.

 

[topnotchtree]

You usually get lots of respect from the truckers. People have no problem zooming past the truck at high speeds, but have you ever noticed if you pan the bucket over the road, even high above them, they usually slow right down?

 

[Menchhofer]

Although probably not politically correct, putting limbs in the road has shown to be much more effective than any other method I have tried. People are just in a hurry and do not stop and think how fast they are actually travelling. I agree, no matter how many flagmen, lights, or cones being used, they are sometimes not enough.

 

[Beast12]

I like to have a pickup between the chipper and traffic, its even better to drive the trim truck down the road the wrong way so the guys feeding the chipper are o.k..

We do the same thing, just in case. And my dad wonders why I want TWO strobes on the dump truck and one on the chipper!

-Matt

 

[SteveBullman]

i worked for a company the other week who had some big "police slow" signs.....not sure as to the legality of it but it sure was amusing watching the bumpers dip down when they saw the signs and hit the breaks. probably the most effective signs ive seen ina ction yet. we were on windy country lanes though so they couldnt see till the last minute that there were no police around. might be a different story on the open road

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Squeezing with cones works well, even if we are off the road a bit, a cone right on the centre line and others one the median lines really slow down traffic. or if you have to cone lanes, give them a little chicane. Sticks work to.

 

[tnttreeman]

I've learned that people are complete idiots when it comes to driving. I have no problem squeezing them over, be it with cones or with my pickup parked partially on the road prior to where we're working. Also, the sticks on the road trick works, but get a nosy cop coming along and we've got to clear them.

 

[Proj Eng]

Just curious, have you tried "men working ahead" signs that are large and orange? Power line crews use these and they are usually fairly effective. If not, perhaps a call to the local police dept ought to alleviate some of the troubles with speeders. Whether it be construction or road side crews of any kind, I think the same rules ought to apply everywhere. Reduced speed, double citations, etc.

I know how the flag guys feel. In previous jobs I was often a flagman for a constuction crew, and had to control traffic. About 80% of the drivers going by would be curteous. The rest, well... I'm sure they saw the signs but deliberately disobeyed them. Risking their own lives sevral times with a large scraper or dozer crossing the road. 2 tons versus 20+. Who do you think would win?

And lastly, it is now mandatory in WI that people must move over if they have room or they face a citation. No matter who is pulled over on the side of the road. Of course, enforcing this is still an issue...

 

[Nickrosis]

Yeah, I still see people cruise past state troopers on the side of the road without edging over to the left lane.

 

[NickfromWI]

http://arborist.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=14488&page=1&highlight=cone+placement

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Contract climbing a while back, I was doing a job on the roadside removing pines on a high bank. Took us about a week. Every day at the same time the same guy would drive through the workzone doing the speed of light. We had all taken turns on the stop go signs and were all sick of him. day 5 he goes through, I yell to the guys hes coming and from the trees come a cascade of pinecones. only a couple hit the car but ???? it was funny to see.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I guess I've done everything mentioned, except for the police signs.

I worked with one company that actually has sawhorse baricades painted orange at the start of the cone line which ran out into traffic as previously stated. Not a bad IDEA if you have a chace truck that can haul them, better then a $30k truck out in traffic.

When i worked for Chemlawn, they actually had a guy clipped by a truck when he was inside the cone line. Knoked him and the cones under the truck