Caltrans and OTS Unveil New Work Zone Safety Mascot

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) recently unveiled their new work zone safety mascot. Safety Sam was named by a California student and is a cartoon traffic cone. The name was actually selected as part of a statewide contest at schools. Not only does the safety mascot raise awareness about work zone safety, the contest also brought awareness to the dangers of work zones to schools throughout California.  

There were nearly 2,000 entries into the contest. A student from Huntington Christian School had the winning entry of Safety Sam. He won a laptop, a $500 gift card, a $500 gift card for his teacher’s classroom, T-shirts and a visit from Safety Sam.  

Safety Sam is The Work Zone Safety Mascot of California  

Safety Sam’s primary objective as work zone safety mascot of California is to educate motorists on the importance of moving over a lane or slowing down when they see his orange friends or highway workers. He’s also bringing attention to the dangers facing roadway workers on state highways and roadways throughout California.  

According to Caltrans, in 2020, there were nearly 7,000 crashes in work zones in work zones across the state. In those crashes, there were 3,000 injuries and nearly 100 fatalities. Nationwide, drivers and passengers account for 85 percent of people killed in work zones.  

Reducing State Highway Fatalities and Serious Injuries  

Safety Sam is part of Caltrans’ Safe System approach to tackling the problem of roadway crashes in the State of California. Their goal is to get roadway fatalities and serious injuries down to zero on state highways by 2050. In addition to public safety campaigns like Safety Sam, they’re also working on infrastructure improvements and projects like “Complete Streets” to reach that goal.  

If you have been injured or if you have lost a loved one in a work zone accident in San Diego or anywhere in Southern California, contact the skilled and proven team at Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. at 1.800.GO.HARRIS for a free case consultation today.