Speed cameras in work zones: Michigan Senate approves legislation
by Courtney Bennett, Mid-Michigan NOW
FLINT, Mich. – If it gets signed into law, you may start getting a ticket in the mail for speeding through construction zones.
The legislation in Michigan was passed last week in the Senate.
If you are going ten over in a construction zone, you’ll be mailed a ticket.
There would be cameras installed in these work zones across the state monitoring drivers’ speeds.
“Traffic cameras to catch speeding through work zones is an important part of that because we know how deadly distracted driving impaired drivers and speeding are to workers working in these work zones. So it’s encouraging to see it moving forward, and we certainly hope that it’s the first of of many steps to make these things safer,” says Dan McKernan is the communications director for Operating Engineers 324.
McKernan says he has seen how fast people drive through construction zones.
“I’ve stood a lot of construction sites with our members and watched traffic as it, you know, in a 60 mile-an-hour zone on I-75 for example, or 696, as I’ve watched people drive by at speeds that are obviously 80/90, miles an hour,” he says.
According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety and Planning in 2023:
- There were 8,017 crashes in work zones
- 21 fatal work zone crashes happened
- Nearly 1,896 work zone injuries were reported
“These are completely avoidable accidents in construction work zones. And it’s, it’s tragic. How many Michigan, you know, workers that are rebuilding our roads and bridges suffer from injuries and even fatalities every year, and we need to do everything we can to eliminate those accidents, not just limit them,” says McKernan.
Through this proposed legislation this is what it would look like:
- Your first violation is a warning.
- The second violation us a civil fine that would cost no more than 150 dollars.
- For the third offense, it’s cost you about 300 dollars.
“The speeds that are posted are there for a reason, and that reason is safety, and we all need to follow it, you know, because nothing there’s, there’s no speed that’s worth a human life,” he says.
This was approved in the Michigan House in June of last year.
It now goes back to the House for final approval.
Then would still have to be signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.