“Actions Behind The Wheel Can Last Forever”: St. Mary’s County Commission Urges Work Zone Awareness

LEONARDTOWN, Md. — For Commissioner Mike Hewitt, the message behind Work Zone Safety and Roadside Awareness Month is not just policy, it’s personal.

Standing before a room filled with public works crews, law enforcement officers, and emergency responders at Tuesday’s St. Mary’s County Commissioners meeting, Hewitt reflected on decades spent working roadside incidents at one of the county’s busiest intersections.

“Look, my family ran a business on the corner. Chancellors Run Road, on Route 235, for 34 years, from 1966 to 2000,” Hewitt said. “And that intersection saw so many accidents.”

Before traffic improvements were made, he said crashes were routine, sometimes occurring multiple times a month. As part of a towing operation, Hewitt and his team were often among the first on scene.

“And I’d be out there with my tow truck, or one of my guys would be,” he said. “And people were in a hurry. They had to get wherever they had to go. And they would go around you, they would drive through the glass, they would drive through the debris.”

That urgency, he said, created dangerous and sometimes near-tragic situations.

“And … I know of many occasions when it came very close, whether it was a state trooper or a deputy sheriff, a DPW, or one of my people, that we’ve said, ‘Wow, that was like a foot away from changing our lives,’” Hewitt said.

It’s those moments that shaped the heart of the proclamation declaring April 2026 as Work Zone Safety and Roadside Awareness Month in St. Mary’s County.

A Reminder That Every Second Matters

“Look, slow down. This is only temporary,” Hewitt said. “Because something that you can do can last a lifetime.”

The proclamation highlights April as the start of peak construction and maintenance season, when crews from the St. Mary’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation, Maryland State Highway Administration, and SMECO are most active along local roadways.

It also emphasizes the risks faced daily by workers and first responders.

“Many essential personnel, including public works crews, law enforcement, fire, and EMS responders, and towing operators, regularly perform their duties along active roadways, where they face significant risk while working just inches from moving traffic,” the proclamation states.

County leaders also honored those who have been injured or killed while working roadside and called on drivers to play a role in preventing further tragedies.

“Driver vigilance is critical to preventing crashes,” the proclamation continues, urging motorists to “slow down, remain alert, avoid distractions, and follow posted signs.”

‘We Like To Go Home As Well’

Following the proclamation, representatives from across agencies stood together, which served as a visual reminder of the teamwork required to keep roads safe.

“This is a representation of many that are on the roads every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” one public works representative said. “And it’s a commitment of all of us to make the road safe, so that we can go to work, school, and go home every day.”

That shared goal, they said, extends beyond the job itself.

“We like to go home as well. We have a family to go home to,” the speaker added. “And so we ask all those in the motoring public to respect that, and, uh, just stay off the phone, keep two hands on the wheel, and just be vigilant.”

A United Front On The Road

Law enforcement officials echoed that message, emphasizing how closely agencies work together during roadside incidents.

“We are a team,” said Lt. Krystle Rossignol, barrack commander of the Leonardtown MSP Barrack. “When we respond to motor vehicle collisions … it can be very dangerous for them.”

Rossignol urged drivers to follow Maryland’s Move Over laws and remain attentive when approaching emergency scenes.

“We need the citizens to pay attention when they’re out there,” she said. “We need people to respect that, move over, so we can go home at the end of the day.”

Looking Ahead

The proclamation also drew attention to a statewide effort to honor fallen roadside workers. Officials announced a Unity Ride scheduled for April 22, ending at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, bringing together highway crews, law enforcement, and emergency personnel.

Back in Leonardtown, the room closed with introductions from dozens of workers, each representing the people who stand just feet from traffic every day.

As cameras clicked for a group photo, the message of the morning lingered simple, but urgent.

“Work zones are temporary,” the proclamation states. “Actions behind the wheel can last forever.”

You can watch the Work-Zone Safety and Roadside Awareness proclamation below at 22:38.

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