Ohio lawmakers pitch higher fines in construction zones
ODOT-related crashes on pace to top 2023’s total
After 34 crashes involving Ohio Department of Transportation workers or equipment in roadside wrecks in January and February, on track to outpace last year’s totals, Ohio lawmakers are looking to curtail future incidents with increased fines.
That means drivers could see higher penalties for reckless driving through construction zones, a term that could also be redefined in a bill introduced last month in the statehouse.
There were a total of 56 incidents in all of 2023, according to Matt Bruning, an ODOT spokesperson.
State lawmakers introduce bill
State Rep. Mark Johnson, R-Chillicothe, and Gary Click, R-Fremont, introduced House Bill 492 to deter speeding and reckless driving in work zones in February.
“We want to make sure that our workers get home safe, but we also want to make sure that everyone who leaves the house in a vehicle gets home safe,” Bruning said.
What does this mean for Ohio drivers?
The bill could tack on additional fines starting at $400 with the first offense. It would also require the driver to take a safe driving course, according to the bill.
On the second offense, there is an $800 fine and a 90-day license suspension. Additional offenses can bring a $1,200 fine with a one-year license suspension.
The law would require each offense to be corroborated by at least two witnesses or a police-worn body camera, dash cam or roadside camera.
Why could penalties increase?
Often workers are injured on the job shoveling snow, repaving roads or fixing potholes. One crash in 2022 saw a dump truck explode in a ball of flame,
injuring one ODOT worker.
With 34 ODOT-related crashes in the first two months of 2024, the state is on pace to surpass the 2023 number of 56, Bruning said.
In the last five years, there have been 96 deaths in work zones, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The state does not track how many workers died.
There have been about 350 work zone crashes in 2024 so far.
Last year, there were over 4,000 incidents.
Updating the meaning of construction zone
The proposed legislation would update what a construction zone encompasses.
If passed, the bill would expand the definition of a construction zone to include any street or highway that is under construction, “reconstruction, resurfacing, or any other work of a repair or maintenance nature, including public utility work,” according to the bill's language.
Utility work could include energy companies repairing poles.
Work zones would begin where the first worker or construction equipment is located and end with the last.