Slow Down to Get Around Program

Image via National Waste & Recycling Association

There has recently been legislation signed into law to help protect New Jersey’s sanitation workers. This bill is in response to a 2013 motor vehicle death of Freehold resident Michael Massey, while working as a sanitation worker. Sanitation work can be a dangerous environment because you are constantly competing for space on the road so that you can effectively do your job. The law will require all motorists to make a lane change or reduce their speed in the presence of a sanitation vehicle, so that similar incidents will never happen again. It is an extremely dangerous situation when motorists aren’t paying attention to sanitation workers getting on and off a truck.

What is Slow Down to Get Around?

Almost everyone has been in a situation where you are stuck behind a garbage truck and you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Most of you have also in that situation got angry and impatient with the sanitation workers in front of you. You try to pull around the garbage truck quickly and when you do so, you are endangering not only the workers, but also yourself. There is a good chance you could hit or clip the garbage collector who is emptying a cart or walking back to the truck. What you need to keep in mind that the garbage collector is just doing his or her job and is someone’s spouse, someone’s friend and someone’s sibling. It is not worth risking someone’s life to get to where you need to go a few minutes earlier.

How to Help Sanitation Workers

Mostly every person is taught and knows how to slow down and wait for school buses, drive slowly in construction zones, and move over for emergency vehicles. It is ironic how everyone knows how to do this, but they are not taught or don’t know how to do so for garbage trucks. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the solid waste industry are now making efforts to educate all drivers to help prevent accidents, injuries and deaths in garbage collectors. Below are some simple ways to help NOISH in their efforts to prevent any future accidents:

·      Slow Down Your Car

When an approaching garbage truck is making its rounds, you should slow down your vehicle. You should even stop if it is necessary to allow the workers to do their jobs. The more cautious you are with your speed around garbage trucks the safer the situation will be.

·      Keep a Look Out For Workers

Before you think about passing the garbage truck, you need to look all around for workers to locate them. Before you can slowly move around the truck you need to keep an eye out for workers.

·      Check For Opposite Traffic

There is always a possibility of traffic coming from the opposite direction when you are trying to pass around a garbage truck. Before you go around you should slowly check that no one would be coming the other way so that no accident is caused.

·      Do Not Distract Yourself

When you are driving near a garbage truck, you should not do anything distracting. You should not text, talk on the phone, change your GPS or change the radio station while you are passing by the truck, or driving in general for that matter.

Garbage Collection in New Jersey

In New Jersey, there has been legislation passed to help protect sanitation workers from here on out. If you are looking for garbage collection or dumpster services in New Jersey, look no further than Cali Carting in Kearny, New Jersey. To learn more about us, contact us today.