Road users being/were..

Do these sentences have the same meaning? If they have, why did the write use "being" in the first sentence instead of "were"?

1) Road users ?????????? urged exercise extra caution this morning amid reports of surface water and flooding in parts of the country after heavy overnight rain and strong winds due to Storm Francis.

2) Road users ???????? urged exercise extra caution this morning amid reports of surface water and flooding in parts of the country after heavy overnight rain and strong winds due to Storm Francis.