MICHIGAN, USA — A five-year effort to improve worker safety and keep roads safe has arrived to Michigan. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed six new bills into law last week aiming to make roads safer. One of those laws allows cameras in construction zones to get people to slow down.
"We started looking around as fatalities began to increase in the state of Michigan within our work zones. We tried to see what other states were doing to protect their workers, and we saw this policy initiative be very successful in other states," said Vice President of Government Affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, Lance Binoniemi.
On Tuesday, Governor Whitmer signed new bills into law that could save the lives of those working on the roads. One of those laws included automated cameras that will detect speeding in construction zones to enhance worker safety and prevent crashes.
Binoniemi said it can be frightening for construction workers on the road.
"We had 24 fatalities last year in our work zones, and you know, a lot of those individuals were working right next to their friends that they had been working with for years, who just lost in an instant. And so it is a very scary environment," said Binoniemi.
The new legislation requires a sign warning drivers of the cameras one mile before the work zone. There will also be a speed monitoring device where the camera is installed that will post your speed.
"Anyone who is traveling 10 miles per hour or more, the posted speed limit where workers are present would receive an automatic warning for the first violation in the mail. If they do that twice, within three years, they would receive $150 fine. And if they did a third time, it would be a $300 fine within that three years as well," said Binoniemi.
He said they've seen this law work successfully in other cities and states and hopes this enforcement will get people to slow down.
"In Maryland, they showed a 85% in reduction of the number and speeders in the first five years of the program. And so we definitely think that this will slow traffic down," said Binoniemi.
Binoniemi said the legislation for the law will take around a year to be implemented.