In early February, Dwayne Pitre, a DOTD employee, was picking up litter when he was hit in a work zone near Carencro. 

According to The Advocate, this happened only months after he was seriously injured by another distracted driver on Interstate 49.

Today Pitre faces an extensive recovery and a major financial burden.

The good news is that Pitre is still with us, but not everyone is so lucky.

That's why secretary of The Department of Transportation and Development, Shawn Wilson is vying to increase worker safety.

DOTD recently introduced enhancements that include additional personnel on work crews to monitor traffic, the extension of work zones and the addition of impact-absorbing trailers that provide warning lights and flashing arrows.

DOTD is also changing its safety color patterns to include a vivid green.
This green will be displayed with yellow on DOTD uniforms and added to their emergency light regime.