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Automatic flagging machines arrive in Spokane to increase construction safety

The equipment is designed to lessen the amount of workers in the hot sun and keep them farther from the roads.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Washington Department of Transportation is introducing a new piece of equipment to its construction work.

As Spokane’s construction season continues, the department is making extra efforts to keep workers and drivers safe.

Automatic flaggers are one of its newest equipment additions. The machines have an arm that lowers to wave a flag to alert drivers and direct them around construction work.

The equipment is designed to lessen the amount of workers in the hot sun and keep them farther from the roads, said Ryan Overton, spokesperson with the department’s eastern region.

WSDOT also recently started using temporary rumble strips. Similar to the speed indentions ahead of some stop signs, these strips are to alert drivers of an approaching work zone.

Overton said recent incidents have prompted the department to continue to find new ways to keep workers safe.

In 2018, one Spokane WSDOT worker had a near miss as a pickup truck drove close enough to him to knock the flagpole out of his hand.

In March in Tacoma, another pickup truck ran into the back of a construction vehicle, destroying the front. There were no fatalities from that incident.

Overton said these cases are reminders for drivers to closely follow speed limits and pay extra attention when driving in work zones.

“These people that are working on the side of the road, they’ve got families, and they want to go home and see their families,” he said.

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