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Road Construction Work Zones and Distracted Driving with Kelly Kanaras

NSSGA Podcast

Release Date: 02/05/2026

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NSSGA’s new Director of Membership Growth & Engagement, Kelly Kanaras, joins Emily to humanize the critical issue of work zone safety. Drawing on her infrastructure background, Kelly discusses the "Watch for Us" campaign and the urgent need to address distracted and aggressive driving. 

Together, they explore how personal experiences transform safety from a professional obligation to a deeply human priority. Kelly recalls standing with a flagger as traffic roared past at 65 mph, witnessing workers' vulnerability firsthand. Discussing the hundreds of lives lost in 2021 alone, she and Emily urge drivers to see work zones not as an annoyance, but as a workplace for someone’s family. In essence, they highlight the sobering physics of accidents and the power every driver has to save lives.

Main Themes:

  • The impact of the "Watch for Us" campaign on work zone awareness.

  • The life-altering consequences of distracted and aggressive driving.

  • Humanizing work zone employees: seeing them as loved ones, not just obstacles.

  • Understanding the physics of speed: the "football field" distance of a five-second distraction.

  • Shifting driver attitudes from frustration to empathy and shared responsibility.

  • The role of compelling testimonials in bringing safety statistics to life.

Toolbox Talk Discussion Questions:

  1. Kelly joins the podcast to talk about her experience visiting a road construction work zone on the side of a highway, and shares how it changed how she drives. Have you ever had an experience at work that changed your behavior in your personal life? 

  2. Kelly shares that while she was in the work zone, she saw drivers using their cell phones. How does eliminating distractions connect to other safety topics? 

  3. Does anyone have a story they'd like to share about distracted driving or road construction work zones?

Key Takeaways:

"These people are not just people who work in work zones. They're someone's father, their mother, sister, brother, partner or child."

"It is an incredibly vulnerable feeling because you know in your mind it only takes one second of them looking away to answer a text and they hit you."

"Stats show that at 55 miles per hour, your car can travel the length of a football field in five seconds. So a lot can happen in that time."

"We all share the responsibility to slow down, eliminate distractions, and watch out for the people working just feet away from that traffic."

Links:

Kelly Kanaras on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kkanaras/