Senate OKs proposal to improve safety in highway work zones

The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously approved a proposal that would create a five-year program to place automated speed enforcement systems in active highway work zones in Pennsylvania.

The genesis of the initiative came after several meetings with local transportation and safety experts. In addition, a plea for help came from a Berks County resident, Holly Doppel, who emailed the senators detailing a tragedy last year along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Doppel’s son was part of a work crew near Bensalem along the Turnpike on May 2, 2015. Fortunately, her son left the crew at 1 a.m. Four hours later, a motorist was killed and four construction workers were in- jured, one with life-altering injuries.

The bill, sponsored by Senators David G. Argall (R- Schuylkill/Berks) and Judy Schwank (D-Berks), would allow for automated speed enforcement systems, or speed cameras, in areas with construction workers present.

“Men and women risk their lives every day to improve our highways and bridges,” Argall said. “While this proposal cannot undo the pain and suffering for those families who lost a loved one due to a reckless driver in a construction work zone, we believe this will change driver behavior and save future lives.”

“This is not just an opportunity to improve highway safety, but to do it without putting more demands on taxpayers or an already overwhelmed budget,” Schwank said. “And the economic and emotional impacts of workzone accidents make inaction and delays far costlier than just the interruption of construction schedules and traffic.”

Under the bipartisan proposal, the automated speed enforcement system would only be active when there are workers present. Motorists would be notified with two warning signs leading into an automated speed enforcement work area. The system would only be used on interstate highways, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylva- nia Turnpike Commission must also post the location of the automated speed enforcement work areas to their respective website.

Motorists exceeding the posted speed limit by at least 11 mph would be subject to a flat $100 citation with no points attributed to the driver’s record.

A similar program in Maryland realized an 85 percent reduction in the amount of motorists speeding in work zones.

“The fact is that we can see that effective speedcamera enforcement works in other places,” said Schwank. “Road workers and motorists deserve the chance to make it work effectively here.”

“We think this will change driver behavior in work zones and hopefully remind motorists to slow down when they enter into a construction work zone,” Argall said.

The bill heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.