by - New York transportation officials want the speed radar program in work zones to be made permanent in the state.
- The New York State Highway Authority and the Department of Transportation say that the pilot project has saved workers’ lives.
- Assaulting workers on highways may become a crime under the proposed laws supported by the Department of Transportation.
The speed radar program — praised for potentially saving lives and not well-liked by impatient drivers who have collectively received millions of dollars in fines — has been deemed so successful that state officials now aim to make it a permanent fixture.
As the New York Highway and Department of Transportation want lawmakers to make the Pilot Program for Automatic Speed Measurement in Work Zones permanent via the state budget, which is agreed upon by April 1.
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The program was signed in 2021 when 50 drivers or highway workers were struck by cars entering a section of the road closed to public traffic. The trial period is supposed to last for five years and started in April 2023 with the deployment of 30 speed radar units.
Despite the program being operational for only two out of the planned five years, transportation officials say there is already sufficient evidence of its benefits to justify its permanent establishment.
“In the nearly two years that this program has been in existence, we’ve seen a change in driver’s behavior,” said Frank Hoar, Executive Director of the New York Highway. “The data supports this. We’ve seen people slow down, and a key point of this program is that the revenues collected from fines go directly to safety programs.”
Speeding violations in work zones do not result in penalty points on driving licenses. However, for a first offense, drivers face a fine of $50, a second offense within 18 months raises this amount to $75, and three or more offenses within 18 months mean each new violation costs $100. Since the start of the pilot program, around $11.7 million have reportedly been collected.
Slowing down cars is not the only measure New York seeks to protect its road workers. Transportation officials also hope that legislation making assault on a worker a fourth-degree crime, which could imprison violators for up to five years, will pass.
“People really get out of their cars, hit, punch, throw hot coffee, and verbally abuse our road maintenance workers,” said Marie Therese Dominguez, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation.
