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MassDOT asks Legislature to allow blue lights on highway maintenance vehicles to slow drivers in work zones
Summary
MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver told the Joint Committee on Transportation that House Bill 3763 would allow the department to apply for registrar permits to use flashing blue lights on vehicles working on high-speed roadways, and he called the change "a small procedural change that will absolutely save lives."
MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver told the Joint Committee on Transportation on May 20 that House Bill 3763 would permit MassDOT to apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for permits allowing flashing, rotating or oscillating blue lights on vehicles actively engaged in highway work. "This is a small procedural change that will absolutely save lives," Gulliver said.
The bill would add MassDOT to the list of agencies eligible to seek those permits and would let MassDOT develop internal policies governing how and where the lights would be used, Gulliver said. He emphasized the proposal would be limited to "high speed roadways" and to "vehicles actively engaged in highway work," and would not remove or reduce the role of police details at construction sites.
Gulliver told the committee the department has run a pilot using blue lights on portable trailers at three locations across the Commonwealth and used radar baseline speeds to measure effects. "We used radar readings to clearly demonstrate the use of blue lights in those work zones led to a direct decrease in vehicle speeds throughout those worksites," he said. He cited nearly 700 active construction and maintenance projects in the state and said the last 12 months were among the deadliest for highway crews.
Gulliver provided both incident counts and named recent employees killed on the job while describing the human toll: "These are fathers. These are husbands. These are brothers. These are wives. These are coworkers and friends." He asked the committee to move the bill favorably, saying the lights would be a supplementary, proven tool to slow drivers approaching work zones.
Committee members asked about pilot results and how blue lights would be used alongside other initiatives; Gulliver said MassDOT also is rolling out digital mapping of worksites to Waze and Apple Maps, distributing high-visibility gear and continuing other work-zone safety measures.
The hearing record shows questions and comments but no formal committee vote during the session. The bill, as described by Gulliver, would only authorize MassDOT to seek permits and to create policies; it would not, by itself, authorize immediate statewide usage without subsequent administrative steps.
Details from testimony: Gulliver said the Commonwealth recorded 659 work-zone-related crashes statewide in the prior 12 months, including 80 incidents with injury and four fatalities. He said MassDOT ran a three-site pilot using blue lights on portable trailers and that other states (Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and others) have reported measurable reductions in work-site speeds after similar authorizations.
What happens next: Committee members heard the testimony and asked questions. No committee action on H.3763 was recorded in the hearing transcript; the bill remains before the Joint Committee on Transportation for consideration and potential amendment.
