In Maryland last year, more than 450,000 motorists were caught on camera while speeding in construction zones, and each received a citation carrying a $40 fine.
They kept the pedal to the metal, exceeding the speed limit by 12 mph or more, despite conspicious signs warning of the presence of the cameras, which snap pictures of the offenders’ license plates.
But the program, begun in 2009, has drastically reduced speeding in work zones, from 7 percent of drivers to about 1 percent, and Pennsylvania lawmakers, stung by two recent crashes that injured five construction workers, are pushing to begin similar enforcement here.
Legislation sponsored by Sens. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, and Judith Schwank, D-Berks, would establish a five-year pilot program of cameras in construction zones.
The cameras would be placed only on limited-access highways and only in active work zones. Violations would bring $100 fines, assessed against the vehicle owner regardless of who was driving. No points would be assessed against the owner’s record.
At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, and Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Monongahela, are advancing legislation that would impose stiff fines on those who endanger, injure or kill construction workers. Endangering a worker would bring a $1,000 fine; aggravated endangerment, causing injury, would carry a $5,000 fine and six-month license suspension; if the worker is killed, a $10,000 fine and one-year suspension would be assessed.
The bill also broadens the definition of highway workers to include emergency personnel, including police.
Increased construction activity funded by the Legislature in 2013 has brought an uptick in crashes and unsafe behavior by drivers, Mr. Costa said.
“We’ve seen accidents, and motorists have been killed and workers have been seriously injured. Drivers are far more aggressive and there’s little regard for the work zone safety rules.”
Under current state law, drivers cited for going 11 mph or more over an active work zone speed limit can be fined and have their licenses suspended for 15 days. The fines and costs total about $200.
Maryland had seen a decline in citations issued for work zone speeding until last year, when 453,641 citations were issued, up from about 350,000 the year before. But the state had 22 construction zones with enforcement last year, compared with 16 the year before, and two were on one of the nation’s busiest highways, Interstate 95, said David Buck, spokesman for the State Highway Administration.
Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, representing more than 400 construction, engineering and manufacturing companies, said it would make work zone speed cameras a legislative priority this year, citing increased roadwork and the higher 70 mph speed limit on parts of the turnpike.
Two panels created by the state government previously had recommended that enforcement tool.
In a November 2012 report, the 30-member Pennsylvania State Transportation Advisory Committee, made up of state government officials, lawmakers and private business leaders, concluded that cameras “have shown to be effective in reducing speeds, crashes, injuries and fatalities” and “have demonstrated improvement in driver behavior.”
The report noted that state police spent $5.7 million on overtime to patrol work zones in 2011. A photo enforcement system would be financially self-sustaining, it said.
Former Gov. Tom Corbett's Transportation Funding Advisory Committee said in its final report in 2011 that cameras in work zones “could provide more hours of monitoring while reducing the assistance needed by the Pennsylvania State Police ... work zone speed limits would be taken seriously 24/7, reducing crashes and saving lives.”
State police last month announced increased patrols in Pennsylvania Turnpike work zones after a crash that seriously injured a construction worker.
A motorist who was being pulled over for speeding in Bedford County swerved into a closed lane and struck Jeremiah Witherspoon, a paving contractor employee from Altoona, sending him to a hospital because of a broken leg, broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
The driver, Johnathan Thomas, 23, was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault while driving under the influence, fleeing and eluding police, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving. Police said he was going 85 in a 55-mph work zone when they tried to pull him over.
Just days after the crackdown was announced, a driver struck four construction workers near the turnpike’s Bensalem interchange in Bucks County. The driver was killed.
“This is a horrific trend, and it needs to stop now,” said Sean Logan, chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. “Too many construction workers were sent to the hospital this week, and too many lives shattered.”
Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com
First Published: May 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.