State cracking on down on work zone speeders

Posted - April 4, 2019

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission joined with Flagger Force, a company that provides flagging services in work zones on Tuesday to draw attention to the importance of work zone safety by noting that Work Zone Awareness Week begins on Monday.

The General Assembly last October passed legislation intended to provide a stick to encourage motorists to drive more safely in construction zones. Act 86 creates a five-year pilot program to place speed cameras in work zones across the state.

The speed cameras will only operate in active work zones and motorists will only get ticketed if they exceed the speed limit by 11 miles-per-hour, according to a summary of the law completed by the House appropriations committee. Speeders will also get a warning on their first offense. A second offense would carry a $75 fine and third and any additional offenses would carry $150 fines.

The speed cameras are expected to be up-and-running later this year, said Carl DeFebo, a Turnpike Commission spokesman. “In the fall, is my understanding,” he said.

Mark Compton, Turnpike Commission chief executive officer, said that speed cameras will complement public awareness efforts that focus on the importance of being safe to protect workers in construction zones.

“If we can’t appeal to your hear, we’re going to appeal to your wallet,” he said.
There were, on average, almost five work zone accidents every day in 2017, the most recent year in which the Department of Transportation has released data.

That year’s total number of work zone crashes was at a five-year low, but the number of crashes in interstate construction zones was at a five-year high.

There were 1,778 work zone crashes, including 721 on the interstates in 2017.

There were 19 people killed in work zone crashes in 2017, up from 16 in the prior year.
Turnpike Commissioner John Wozniak said that too many drivers treat their automobiles “like a second living room” and get distracted by the other people in their vehicles along with their entertainment systems, phones and food.

“When you see a contruction zone, slow down,” Wozniak said. “These are people, they have wives, husbands, daughters and sons.”

Jackie McVey, of Sunbury, a Flagger Force field specialist, was among those speaking at the event outside the Turnpike Commission headquarters near Harrisburg.

McVey recounted a harrowing close call when she was working in a construction zone near Danville in February. A car entering the work zone, started to leave the roadway, hit a traffic cone a few feet away from her, before swerving and missing her, she said.

“There wasn’t time to think” as the car barreled down on her, McVey said. She added that once she realized how close she’d been to getting hit, “I thought of the impact on my son and his future,” she said.

Motorists should be more considerate of the people working in construction zones, McVey said. “This is my office,” she said. “This is where I work every day.”

John Finnerty is based in Harrisburg and covers state government and politics. Follow him on Twitter @CNHIPA.