FHWA Outlines Strategies to Protect Highway Crews Working at Night
About half of all fatal work zone crashes in 2023 happened at night, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), as more road work moves to nighttime hours.
- By Danielle Naidu
- Oct 19, 2026
Highway crews working after dark face added risk from speeding, fatigued or impaired drivers, according to a Federal Highway Administration fact sheet that lays out ways agencies can better protect them.
Higher speeds were a factor in more than 30% of all fatal work zone crashes in 2023, the fact sheet says. Agencies are scheduling more construction, maintenance and utility work at night to cut daytime traffic delays, and more highway workers are on the job than in past years, FHWA said.
The strategies it describes include:
- Active, passive and technology-based enforcement to slow drivers in and near work zones.
- Anti-glare lighting to improve hazard detection and reaction time.
- Positive protection devices, such as barriers that contain and redirect vehicles, to reduce intrusions.
- PPE that makes workers visible from farther away.
- Traffic control devices, including rumble strips, pavement markings, sequential lights and high-visibility sheeting.
- Coordination of lane shifts, closures and schedules.
The fact sheet also highlights state practices. Pennsylvania runs a statewide work zone speed safety camera program with the Pennsylvania Turnpike and State Police. Michigan has a standard for inspectors to measure nighttime lighting levels. Tennessee has assessed AI-powered systems that sound horns and flash lights on truck-mounted attenuators. Virginia is developing an automated truck-mounted attenuator, plus a siren-and-light alarm for attenuators that have drivers.
The fact sheet is informational and does not carry the force of law, FHWA notes.
About the Author
Danielle Naidu is assistant editor for Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection Online.