Home

State Patrol says some drivers not paying attention in construction area near Hudson

Posted: $util.date("h:mm a MMM d, yyyy",$story.contentLiveDate,$timeZone)
Reporter: Kevin Hurd

State Patrol says some drivers not paying attention in construction area near Hudson

"You're in control, you're the one making decisions and that's a lot of the problems we have is with driver behavior," said Captain Jeffrey Frenette with the Wisconsin State Patrol.

He says the string of crashes happening along a stretch of I-94 are still under investigation. But at this point, the problem may not be the road, but the decisions people make while driving on it.

"Certainly in the crashes we've had in the past couple months in the construction zone, people are not paying attention to what's going on," he said.

Frenette says the sudden slow down can catch people off-guard if they are not focused on driving. Others mis-judge how fast they can stop.

"Some motorists make assumptions, and they make them incorrectly," he added.

He says keeping a gap with the car in front of you and watching ahead for slow-downs is key. Good advice, this time of year in Wisconsin.

"Motorists need to pay attention because things in our construction zones can change on a daily basis, even in an hourly basis," said Chris Ouelette. She is a Communications Manager with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

She says other than people not paying attention, she does not know why the stretch of road under construction near Hudson is drawing more accidents, but says next week another lane will be added.

"Once that's done, the need for additional lane closures will be eliminated," she added.

That is some better news for Ryan York, who lost two of his friends in accidents in the stretch of I-94 near Hudson.

People that shouldn't have been, should still be here," he said as of his friends.