Ohio’s highways are kept in working order in part thanks to individuals like Petar Mlinac, known to his friends and coworkers as Pete, a Highway Technician working with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12. Mlinac’s daily grind involves battling the elements and the clock to ensure that roads are safe for commuters and travelers alike, and it’s after these grueling shifts that he finds solace in the time spent with his family, according to a social media post by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12 Cleveland.
The post, besides introducing Mlinac, emphasizes the importance of driver vigilance and the potential human cost of inattention behind the wheel, recounting an incident where a pickup truck met with a crash in a work zone despite the presence of a crash cushion truck and clear warning signs it’s a situation that could have ended much worse but serves as a poignant reminder of the risks road workers face every day. Mlinac himself has voiced a plea for drivers to stay alert and respect the lives of those working on the highways by slowing down and moving over upon spotting work crews, as everyone – ODOT crews, law enforcement, emergency responders, or those in stalled vehicles – merits a safe return home.
The very essence of Mlinac’s message was scarred into the cold asphalt one early morning at 4:00 a.m. on I-90, when the ODOT team, tending to a mere pothole, felt the jarring impact of a collision caused by a distracted driver, an event that could have been prevented had there been stricter adherence to road safety awareness and guidelines the responsibilities he upholds and the hazards he faces are not solitary to him, but shared amongst all road workers, and their collective plea for road safety is echoed with every reflective vest donned and every barrier set up.
Mlinac's commitment, reflective of countless others in the field, underscores a critical public safety message, one that ODOT doesn't want to get lost in the daily shuffle of news and information highway safety is not an abstract concept but a tangible, life-or-death matter made real through these shared stories, in the early morning crash cushions smashed and warning signs dismissed are not merely protocol but potentially life-saving measures. “Stay alert, #SlowDown, and #MoveOver when you see crews working. Your attention could save a life,” as per the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12 Cleveland, ODOT reiterates, through a simple hashtag mantra, a collective hope that the next time Pete and his crew set out to patch up the world, they won’t become part of the wreckage they strive to prevent.
