Why do Roadworkers receive abuse from the general public for simply doing their job?

This is a question I have asked myself many times both as an on site operative and whilst I have been in management capacities, why do we get abuse for doing our jobs? and why do we just accept it and brush it off?

Over the years working in Traffic Management both here in the UK & during my time in Australia I have received abuse left, right & centre and always just accepted that it was part and parcel of the job, brushed It off and continued about my day however I have found that it is becoming increasingly common to get abuse, almost on a daily basis.

Friday, last week I was on site and implemented a temporary closure, the site was compliant in every aspect and there should of been no issues however, about 1 minute after closing the road a Transit van approached site with a male occupant and a passenger I would assume to be his son ( early teen years) me being me, approached the van and simply said ” apologies for the delay sir, we are just repairing a pot hole in the road, due to its location on the road I have implemented a temporary closure we will be about 10 minutes” the man started to laugh and said ” go on mate let me through” I then continued to explain to him that I wasn’t able to do that due to the pot hole location and the guys were right in the middle of the road and again apologised for the inconvenience but we shouldn’t be too much longer.

The situation then changed drastically, he started shouting and swearing at me in front of his son! I was shocked that this man/father would set such an example in front of his child that it is acceptable to shout and swear at someone for simply doing their job. I said to the man ” there is absolutely no need for that sir I am finishing the conversation we will be about 10 minutes” and walked away, as I walked away he called me the big C word! told me I was power tripping and continued to call me the C word. I just ignored him and brushed it off like I always do.

Then about 5 minutes later an elderly lady in her black Mercedes-Benz pulled up and straight out of her car. A colleague approached her explained the situation that we had a couple minutes left before we could open the road, she went into an absolute tirade of abuse, I approached and she made several gestures and went ” oooo look here comes health and safety” and ” I pay your wages through my council tax I demand you open the road immediately” etc

It really got me thinking over the weekend that this isn’t the first time and likely won’t be the last time I experience such abuse. If I experience it how many other roadworkers experience it on a regular basis but why has it become acceptable to verbally and in some instances physically abuse roadworkers? The answer I believe is that of pure arrogance, a sense that the abusers are in some way superior to roadworkers and therefore we do not deserve the respect of a normal human being.

We need to change this mentality of the public, we are just doing our jobs and most importantly we ARE human. I do not believe that we as a society are that far gone that common human decency has gone out the window, I think it is as simple as re-educating the public and putting measures in place to ensure roadworkers safety.

Prime Traffic Management is continuously looking at new methods and technologies to ensure everyone on site remains safe and strive towards an abuse free work environment.