HARRISBURG, Pa. -- PennDOT is joining with other state highway agencies, and the Governor Wolf Administration, to encourage drivers to slow down while passing through highway work zones. Monday marked the start of National Work Zone Awareness Week, aimed at promoting safety in highway work areas.
A display of crosses was set up in Harrisburg Monday, to represent each PennDOT worker killed in a work zone crash statewide. The agency recorded 16 work zone deaths in 2016, seven fewer than in the year before.
Under Pennsylvania law, anyone violating the posted speed limit by more than five miles per hour in a work zone, will face doubled fines. Additionally, any driver who causes serious bodily injury within a work zone could face up to $5,000 in fines and a six-month suspension of their driver's license. Those penalties double for a driver who causes a death in a work zone.
"Everyone has a family they want to go home to," said Tony Travis, Assistant Manager of Highway Maintenance for Lebanon County. "Everyone has kids, they have a wife, they have a mother and father they want to go home and see. So it's very important that motorists slow down and be safe around our crews, so that our guys can go home to their families just like they're going home to theirs."
PennDot says it's not just about speed. Officials are reminding motorists to be patient, saying current delays will improve the overall future safety of Pennsylvania's roadways.