Senate hears proposal to raise work‑zone fines and apply them regardless of visible workers

Senate Transportation Committee members heard testimony on Senate Bill 2183, a proposal to increase fines for speeding in construction zones and to make the enhanced penalty apply whenever a posted construction‑zone speed limit is in effect rather than only when workers are physically present.

Sponsor Senator Dean Rummel said the current $80 fine has lost deterrent effect and that harsher penalties would encourage safer driving around work zones. “This bill is all about safety,” Rummel said, presenting crash and citation data from the last two years and asking the committee to adopt a higher, behavior‑changing penalty.

The bill as introduced would increase the minimum fine for 1–10 miles per hour over the posted construction‑zone limit to $150; if a driver exceeds the limit by more than 10 mph the fine would be $150 plus $2 for each mile per hour above 10 over the limit. The bill also proposes removing statutory language that limits the enhanced penalty to times “when individuals are engaged in construction” in the zone.

Rummel cited statewide figures for 2023–24 that committee testimony repeated during the hearing: 523 crashes in work zones (13 with suspected serious injury, 71 with minor injury, 63 possible injury, and 376 with no apparent injury), and 1,313 speeding citations issued by the…