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Committee approves doubling fines in mobile work zones to protect RDOT crews
Summary
A bill to extend doubled fines to mobile maintenance work zones — placing signage on mobile vehicles and increasing penalties for violations — passed the committee after RDOT testimony about recent fatalities involving maintenance workers.
Senator Kim Hammer sponsored a measure to extend the same doubled-fine protections that exist for static construction work zones to mobile maintenance work zones, where RDOT maintenance crews carry out tasks such as pothole patching, debris removal and other moving operations. Jared Wiley, director of RDOT, described the bill and highlighted recent fatal incidents to underscore the measure's urgency.
Wiley told the committee that in the last 20 years the state has lost 23 work-zone workers, of whom eight were RDOT employees and 15 were contract workers; since October the department had experienced three catastrophic incidents involving RDOT personnel, including two fatalities and one worker still hospitalized. "We want to make sure we do all we can to see that happen," Wiley said of efforts to keep workers safe.
Witnesses clarified the operation and signage for mobile work zones: the protective sign would typically be mounted on a vehicle (often the 'shadow' vehicle behind the work truck) rather than requiring static signs to be posted and moved constantly, which maintenance crews said would be inefficient. Senators asked whether routine mowing would be covered; RDOT said most mowing occurs off pavement and would not be covered by this bill, though some mowing incidents that involve the roadway could be fatal.
The committee voted to pass the bill. Supporters emphasized the bill's purpose of improving worker safety and morale and asked that driver-education materials incorporate mobile work-zone safety principles where needed.
