(KYTX) - Two of the six people injured in a Houston County accident Monday, are still in the hospital.
The crash happened on State Highway 7, one mile east of Crockett.
59-year-old Teddy Chance of Milam died at the scene. Pamela Moran was care flighted to ETMC Tyler, where she is in fair condition tonight.
Farrel Hooks is also at ETMC Tyler, and is in good condition.
That major accident happened in a construction zone, when an 18-wheeler crashed into four cars waiting in line.
At a construction zone in Van Zandt County, similar to the one where the accident happened, Texas Department of Agriculture PIO Larry Krantz shows you why you need to be extra careful.
A construction zone may just seem like a delay on your way to work, but Krantz explains that driving in a work zone is extremely dangerous.
"4 out of every 5 people killed in work zones are motorists," he says.
Work zones magnify the problems we already see on the road.
Krantz says those issues include, "Distracted driving, excessive speed, the failure to keep a safe distance between the vehicle in front of you.
Whether your foot is on the accelerator, or you're stopped in line, if you're in a work zone, the danger is there.
"It's usually motorists waiting in line, or driving through a zone that don't follow the traffic control who end up in trouble."
David Hendry with the Lufkin DPS was at Monday's fatal accident. He says, "Those four passenger vehicles were sitting in a row stopped at the discretion of the flag man, and the vehicle that had the person that passed away was the first one that was struck."
In that accident, it wasn't just drivers that ended up in the hospital.
A man flagging cars through the construction zone was injured too. Taking extra safety precautions in construction zones doesn't just affect you and other drivers. It affects the workers as well, who depend on you being careful for their safety.
Krantz says construction workers are not thinking about the cars driving by. Instead, they're focused on the job at hand.
"In order to work out on the road, regardless of what your job is, you really have to be able to put traffic out of your mind or else you won't get anything done," Krantz says.
That means as a driver, everyone's safety is up to you.
"The workers are really taking it on faith that motorists are really paying attention in work zones, and when they don't bad things happen."
The bottom line is slow down, stay away from distractions like your phone, and listen to construction zone workers. Doing so will keep you and others safe.
TxDOT says if you are driving in a construction zone, give the car in front of you as much space as possible. That way if there is an accident, you're not causing more cars to crash.
Consequences for speeding and other traffic violations are also much tougher when in a work zone. In Texas, you pay double for fines.
