77% of road workers havebeen abused

Londonderry motorists are being asked to have a bit of respect for those working on construction jobs on the local roads.

The Northern Ireland Quarry Products Association has made the call following a number of recent incidents that saw road workers hospitalised after being struck by vehicles driven by members of the public who refused to stop and drove through a road closure.

The risk of death or injury at work, faced daily by the workers who maintain Northern Ireland’s roads, is highlighted by the results of a recent national industry survey.

Almost one in five workers suffer some injury caused by passing vehicles in the course of their careers while working on our road network.

More than three-quarters suffer verbal abuse from drivers, and many have reported having objects thrown at them by motorists.

Road workers were asked if they had experienced: deliberate throwing of missiles, near miss, verbal abuse, slight personal injury caused by road user’s vehicle (eg bruising), major personal injury caused by road user’s vehicle (eg broken bones).

The responses were: 13 per cent of roadworkers surveyed had sustained slight injuries; 3 per cent had sustained major injuries; 77 per cent had suffered verbal abuse from passing drivers; 54 per cent had a near miss with a vehicle; and 40 per cent had experienced missiles deliberately thrown at them.