Thursday's fatal accident on Route 422 in Armstrong County, a short distance from Butler County, is a tragic reminder of the dangers that exist in a construction zone or any other kind of highway work area.

Motorists must slow down and focus their attention, not only in the work zone itself but as the work area is being approached.

Accidents can be avoided simply by traffic slowing down before it is required to do so. Most construction or work zones are marked well in advance of the actual work area.

Without knowing what kind of work is being performed or how a work zone is set up, it's foolhardy to wait until the last minute to respond to the caution signs that are in place.

It's important for Butler County motorists to heed such suggestions at a time when so much work is under way, especially in and around the city of Butler.

Detours such as those in place for the Mercer Road and South Monroe Street bridge-replacement projects, and the soon-to-be-imposed Wayne Street Viaduct detour, have motorists traveling on routes that they might not normally travel often or, at least, not at the times of the day they now must travel them.

The volume of detoured traffic with which motorists must contend, coupled with less familiarity with the routes, increases the potential for an accident — and with that the possibility of injuries or worse.

The old Wayne Street Viaduct, which will be closed in about a month as part of the process of building the new span, is a prime example of the kind of dangerous situations that can evolve when a construction zone also is forced to serve increased traffic from another construction project. There have been some close calls at the viaduct curve a short distance from where Wayne Street connects with Center Avenue — because of traffic backed up to just around the curve.

Traffic entering the curve sometimes finds a line of stopped vehicles waiting for the traffic signal at Wayne and Center to turn green, requiring quick braking and, maybe, for some drivers, a quick prayer.

The old viaduct is handling a significant volume of traffic that normally would use South Monroe Street and cross that street's bridge, which has been removed to make way for the new span.

Reduced speed limits and the requirement that headlights be turned on while a vehicle is passing through an active construction zone exist for a reason. The most important reason is to avoid accidents like Thursday's.

The Route 422 accident was indeed a tragedy. An employee of a highway contractor just doing her job had her life snuffed out because of a set of circumstances that did not have to happen.

It's too soon to know what ramifications, if any, might stem from that accident. But motorists of all ages should acknowledge Thursday's fatality as a tragic reminder of why construction- and/or work-zone travel must be guided by reduced speed, focused attention and caution.