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Road construction season will be starting soon, and PennDOT officials are looking to build on increases in work-zone safety by starting their Work Zone Speed Safety Camera Program back up.
The initial five-year pilot was made permanent in 2023.
Work zones are marked and equipped with speed safety cameras, which detect and record drivers exceeding posted work-zone speed limits. Camera systems are operational anytime workers are present in an active work zone.
There are 17 white Jeep Cherokees outfitted as speed monitoring vehicles, and all 17 will be used daily at the height of construction season between state roadways and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, according to PennDOT spokesperson Jennifer Kuntch.
“Currently, only a limited amount of work zones have worker activity occurring, which is a requirement to perform our automated enforcement,” Kuntch said.
Drivers recorded speeding by more than 11 mph over the posted limit will receive a warning letter following their first offense, a $75 fine for the second, and a $150 fine for the third and all subsequent offenses. The violations are civil penalties; no points will be assessed to a driver’s license.
“The Work Zone Speed Safety Camera program is about making work zones safer for both workers and motorists by reducing speeds and changing driver behavior,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “Data from the pilot program shows it was successful, and we’re pleased that it’s now a permanent program in Pennsylvania.”
Over the pilot program’s five years, PennDOT official say data showed:
• A 38% reduction in speeding in work zones.
• A 47% reduction in excessive speeding, defined as 11 mph or more over the speed limit.
• A 50% decline in work-zone crashes, when a speed enforcement vehicle was present. In 2018, before the pilot program began, there were 1,805 work-zone crashes, according to PennDOT statistics. That number dropped to 1,753 work-zone crashes in 2019, and dropped dramatically to 1,416 in 2020 before climbing back to 1,649 in 2021.
Effective this year, there is a new 15-day “warning period,” meaning if a driver is caught speeding, they will not receive a second violation until 15 days after the mail date of the first letter. PennDOT officials said the warning period will allow drivers a chance to change their driving behavior.
Kuntch cautioned that drivers should not use the warning period as a license to speed at will.
“While there’s no risk of receiving a violation from the Work Zone Speed Safety Camera Program during the 15-day warning period, motorists could still receive a speeding citation from police,” she said.
After the warning period, drivers can accumulate fines as quickly as they are observed by speed cameras or police.
“The pilot program demonstrated that even the first warning initiates a behavioral change as the percent of repeat offenders was less than 17%,” said Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey. “Additionally, the program serves as a roadway reminder that safety is literally in each driver’s hands when they are behind the wheel.”
In 2022, there were 1,293 work-zone crashes in Pennsylvania, 14 involving a fatality. Since 1970, 90 PennDOT and 45 Pennsylvania Turnpike workers have been killed in work zone crashes.
For more on the program, see WorkZoneCameras.PennDOT.gov.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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