Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced that the state will officially commemorate National Work Zone Awareness Week from April 17 through April 21 as construction season kicks off.
According to a media release, the theme for 2023 is, “You play a role in work zone safety. Work with us!” As part of the commemoration aimed at protecting highway workers, an automated work zone speed monitoring pilot program to help enforce speed limits in highway construction and maintenance work zones officially launched on April 17. Thirty speed violation monitoring systems will be positioned in active work zones along state highways — 20 on NYSDOT-maintained roads and 10 on the state Thruway.
“As we officially kick off construction season in New York as well as National Work Zone Awareness Week, I thank highway workers across the state who put their lives on the line to maintain and enhance the roads that we all rely on every day,” Hochul said in the release. “This new pilot program will be instrumental in encouraging safe driving habits in highway work zones and protecting the lives of those who help maintain a safe and reliable highway system.”
According to the release. New York has experienced a rising number of work zone speed violations in recent years, resulting in numerous highway worker injuries and several deaths among state and contractor personnel.
For the first 30 days of the automated work zone speed monitoring pilot program, speeding motorists will be issued warnings, with actual notices being issued 30 days after the initial rollout, the release said. Under the program, all vehicles detected violating the posted speed limit within a work zone by over an established threshold will be fined. License plate images and speed data collected will be sent to NYSDOT and the Thruway within a week, with violation fines issued to the vehicle’s registered owner by mail. Vehicle owners who are New York residents will receive notice in the mail within 14 business days of the violation instance, while those who live out of state will receive notice within 45 days. Images of the driver or contents of the vehicle will not be documented.
Fines through the pilot program will be issued as follows: $50 for first violation, $75 for second violation, $100 for third and subsequent violations within 18 months of the first violation.
Unpaid fines may result in a vehicle registration hold where drivers will not be able to renew their registrations without first paying their fines, the release said. Owners may contest a violation within 30 days of when they received notice. As required by law, 60% of the funds collected by NYSDOT and the Thruway Authority through the program will supplement work zone safety projects.
A State Police crackdown on work zone violations will also take place this week as part of the “Operation Hardhat” initiative, which “highlights the importance of safe driving practices in active construction and maintenance work zones across the state,” the release said. State troopers will be dressed as highway maintenance workers in active highway work zones on highways across New York where highway employees will be performing maintenance and construction activities. Enforcement efforts in construction zones are planned throughout the state during the remainder of the construction season, which typically concludes in October.
In 2022, a total of 3,062 tickets was issued during Operation Hardhat details, surpassing the total of 2,336 tickets issued in 2021, the release said.