Thank you, Ty.

Ty was sworn into the Board of Transportation last month.

Also here today is Cameron McCrae, our Board of Transportation member from Kinston.

I'm confident that they will do an excellent job representing you on the board.

I'm pleased you could all be here today to help kickoff our 2001 Work Zone Safety Campaign.

This campaign is funded with federal dollars through the Governor's Highway Safety Program.

We thank them for their continued support.

Gov. Easley has declared April 9-13 as Work Zone Safety Awareness Week.

I join him in calling on each and every North Carolinian to take responsibility on our highways to help reduce fatalities and injuries.

To do this though, we must educate motorists and highway workers about the dangers associated with work zones. Central to Governor Easley's vision of One North Carolina is a safe and efficient transportation system.

As a result of our state's tremendous progress, more and more people are traveling our highways -- increasing the wear and tear.

This leads to more road construction and increased maintenance on existing roads.

Currently, we have more than 400 major work zones across the state.

But this number will soon be increasing.

The beginning of spring signals more favorable weather -- which means that our employees will be out in full force repairing and improving your highways.

Many workers and motorists out on the highways at the same time makes summer and fall particularly dangerous-and this is when the majority of work zone crashes occur.

That's why we are taking our campaign to three cities across the state today-Wilmington, Raleigh and Salisbury - to get our message out before the start of the busy construction season.

Our campaign - Speed a Little. Lose a Lot. - which will last through September, will focus on the dangers of speeding through the work zone and distracted drivers.

If you speed through a work zone, you could lose $250 - you could be responsible for the death of another motorist or the death of a DOT employee or contractor.

You could lose your own life.

117 people have been killed in North Carolina work zones during the past four years.

On average, we lose about 29 people every year - and hundreds more are injured.

Last year, we had one DOT worker killed in a work zone - Medford Austin from Dare County.

One death is one too many.

That's why we are committed to reducing work zone fatalities by 100 percent.

We are dedicated to protecting people on both sides of the barrel-our workers and you, the motorists driving through the work zone.

One of the ways we are doing this is by stepping up work zone patrol efforts.

We just heard from Colonel Richards that DMV is focused on maintaining safety and deterring violators.

I applaud DMV - and all law enforcement agencies - for their efforts and look forward to continuing our partnership to promote safe work zones.

To reduce injuries and fatalities, we must understand when and where these crashes occur.

More than half of all work zone crashes occur during daylight and on smooth asphalt.

Most crashes occur on clear days and when the pavement is dry. The explanation for this is simple - motorists aren't paying attention.

You must PAY ATTENTION and STAY ALERT.

These tips can help save lives:

• Don't use your cell phone or change radio stations.

• Don't read the paper or try to do office work.
  • There are increased dangers present in work zones.

  • Even if you see no work taking place, there may be a new traffic pattern or new barriers up.
  
  
• Watch for barrels, cones, electronic message signs and flaggers that will show you the way.

• TURNING ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS helps make your car more visible to our workers and other motorists.