Alabama AGC and long-time members Johnny and Kathy Walton were featured on the cover of the July/August 2022 issue of AGC Magazine, a national AGC publication.

For the past 20 years, the Mobile Section of Alabama AGC has participated in National Work Zone Awareness Week, which encourages safe driving practices through highway work zones.

"A renewed interest in the importance of getting our message out [...] began in earnest once Marshall Walton was killed by a distracted driver in 2015," Charlotte Kopf, manager of the Mobile Section, said.

"Marshall was the son of one of our longtime members — Johnny and Kathy Walton of John G. Walton Construction Co. Inc. — and had been involved with AGC his entire life. He was only 25 and was the future of Johnny's company."

The tragic incident occurred in 2015 when a distracted driver crashed into Walton's work zone, killing him instantly. The driver apparently never slowed down. Because of a change in Alabama's vehicular homicide statute the year prior, the driver suffered no consequences, not even a point on his drivers license.

A local bridge being built by Walton's company, not far from the site of the accident, was recently dedicated in their son's name: the Marshall James Walton Memorial Bridge. However, the most significant outcome of the Waltons' efforts is legislative.

In tandem with Alabama AGC, their local Legislators and the District Attorney's Association, Johnny and Kathy took it upon themselves to pursue change regarding the vehicular homicide law in Alabama.

Signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey in 2017, the Marshall J. Walton Highway Safety Act reinstated that similar instances of vehicular homicide are punishable from one to nine years.

The importance of work zone safety is increasing as technology becomes more pervasive. With the pandemic winding down over the last year, incidents like these have seen a spike in frequency with the incidence rate rising from 60 percent in 2021 to 64 percent in 2022, according to the results of a study conducted by AGC of America and their survey partner, HCSS.

Additionally, an overwhelming 97 percent of those surveyed report that highway work zones are more dangerous than they were a year ago. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 15,000 injuries and 100 fatalities to workers in highway and street construction each year.

When Walton was killed in 2015, no one could have known how much good his parents would bring from tragedy. Their son's story allows him to live on in the field he loved, and to save lives by preventing others from losing their loved ones to distracted driving.

Johnny and Kathy Walton of John G. Walton Construction Co. Inc. are huge supporters of National Work Zone Safety Week. (Photo courtesy of Constructor Magazine)

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