Traffic Work Zone Incident

Yesterday, students from my Cycle 2 class were working on their operator skills on 3 pieces of heavy equipment: Skid Steer, Backhoe, and mini excavator.  It was a really hot and humid day.  We were along the road, next to the campus, playing with a stockpile of dirt.  Although, the students were done with my safety course for the day.  I stayed back to act as the Site Safety, while the Heavy Equipment Instructor did some one-on-one instruction time with all the students with the mini-excavator. 

At the same time, I went around the "job site" taking pictures of each student as they took turns practicing on each of the heavy equipment.  All of them were having fun on the equipment or hanging out under the shade of the nunu tree patiently awaiting their turn.  

While taking pictures of the current students on the backhoe and skid steer.  Some of the students under the shade tree got my attention that a green tinted sedan ran over one of our traffic safety cones.  The first thing I did was take a look where the cone was knocked over and made sure not one of my students was hit.  Good thing it was just the cone.  

The students pointed out the car, as it drove through the back gate of the campus, and parked in the Technology Buildings parking lot.  I watched as the car parked and the driver exited the vehicle. A part of me wanted to jump on the mini-excavator, drive over to that car, and tear it to shreds.  I had to settle with my imagination.  I had to set the proper safety example to my students, remain cool, calm, and collected.  

Everytime, I do work in a Traffic Work Zone.  It never fails.  Some idiot purposely hits the cones, barrels, or barriers.  Back in the mid 1980's we used to put concrete in those traffic devices.  We stopped because people who were hitting them were getting hurt running over our modified traffic devices.  The Feds didn't want the contractors injuring Joe Public, even though he deserved it.  Now, we have to protect them, the public, and our workers during roadway construction.  I have no qualms with that.  But the idiot drivers, should be fined and their vehicles impounded.  

There was enough room for the driver to avoid the cone.  There was no traffic from the opposite direction.