State Police release results of ‘Operation Hardhat’

NEWYORK » State Police and the Department of Transportation announced that 85 tickets were issued during two days of “Operation Hardhat” initiatives that took place on the Northway.

Operation Hardhat is a joint initiative that features state troopers dressed as highway workers to crackdown on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving through active construction and maintenance work zones. Based on the initial success of the initiative, plans are in place to roll out additional operations throughout the summer.

On July 10, troopers, with the assistance of the New York State Department of Transportation, patrolled highway work zones on the Northway in Warren County.

A second initiative was conducted on the Northway in Saratoga County on July 14.

During these two days, troopers issued tickets for a host of violations, including speeding, use of a cell phone while driving, and failure to obey a flagger.

Violations issued by the State Police during the two initiatives included:

• 64 speeding

• 2 cellphone

• 1 unsafe lane change

• 1 failure to obey traffic control

• 17 other VTL infractions

Motorists are urged to drive responsibly in work zones. They are reminded to move over a lane when safely possible, or slow down significantly, whenever encountering roadside vehicles displaying red, white, blue, amber or green lights, including maintenance and construction vehicles in work zones.