Operation Hardhat to protect Highway construction workers will continue until November

Highway construction workers have one of of the highest rate of fatality among all categories of construction workers. Too often, they die in accidents caused by reckless drivers. In New York State,  from May to November, the New York State Police and the New York State Department of Transportation  are joining forces to crack down on reckless drivers in highway construction zone areas. Through “Operation Hard Hat”, any highway construction workers could actually be a State trooper checking on your driving behavior near construction zones and communicating with other state troopers down the road to stop and ticket drivers who do not respect construction workers safety.

State troopers are sometimes taking the role of a flagman or could be seated in a truck checking your speed  or checking if you are using a cellphone

This year so far, according to a recent announcement by governor Cuomo, 37 operations have been conducted on New York State highways resulting in 432 speeding tickets, 112 seat-belts tickets, 192 cell phone tickets, 68 move over tickets, 2 failure to obey flagger tickets, 10 failure to obey traffic control device tickets, 1 DWI violation, 2 unsafe lane change tickets and 403 tickets for other violations. A total of  1,222 tickets were issued so far. Last year, the same campaign from May to November resulted in a total of 1,048 tickets.

Reckless driving in construction zone areas can not be tolerated as it can have have fatal consequences. It is essential that highway workers doing maintenance, construction or emergency assistance be protected. In construction zone areas, drivers must slow down and drive responsibly. When construction workers are working on the border of the highway, motorists must move over a lane if it is possible to safely do so or slow down if it is not possible to move over a lane. Cell phone use is not allowed while driving  and can be especially dangerous nearby highway construction zone as the slightest driver inattention can turn into a tragic accident. Additionally not obeying a flagman is reckless and can put the lives of other road users at risk.

Read more on the New York State website