HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. -- Speed cameras are coming to work zones starting Wednesday in Hancock County.
It is all part of the state’s new Worksite Speed Control Pilot Program, or "Safe Zones." The Indiana General Assembly passed the new initiative during its 2023 legislative session.
"This is a program that was designed to improve safety in work zones for both road crews as well as motorists who are traveling through work zones," said INDOT Strategic Communications Director Natalie Garrett. "Speed continues to be a factor in many of those crashes that are high impact, involve injuries and even fatalities."
As part of the program, INDOT will place Safe Zones technology in construction zones to document vehicles driving 11 mph or more above the speed limit. The work zone between mile markers 95 and 105 on I-70 in Hancock County will be the first area to utilize the cameras.
Starting Wednesday, a pre-enforcement warning period will begin. The department said that the warning period will last for at least 30 days.
When that grace period is over, first-time violators will be mailed a warning notice. Second-time offenders will receive a $75 civil penalty. Third-time violators and beyond will receive a $150 penalty each time.
"This program as it stands is of course solely focused on speeding drivers," Garrett said. "Hopefully it will get the attention of drivers and they’ll give some extra thought the next time they’re driving through a work zone."
INDOT reports 33 people were killed and more than 1,750 were injured in work zones in 2023 alone. The program aims to lower those numbers, which INDOT officials said has happened in other states that have conducted similar programs.
Many construction contractors and road crews have had their own close encounters, which is why they are hopeful new initiatives like this one may at least be a stepping stone towards safer road work zones.
"You’re flirting with your life every day out here," described construction contractor Jake Carr.
Carr has worked on city streets and state highways for more than 20 years. At that time, he said he had seen just about everything.
"I have had cars just freakin' run into barrels, run over my cones," Carr said. "It’s kind of crazy out here, really.
While Carr has witnessed plenty of close calls over the years, he narrowly dodged a disaster himself on Tuesday at 38th and Post in Indianapolis after he said a truck came smashing through 10 to 15 of his construction barrels.
"This guy speeds on and hits me in the back of my left elbow with his mirror and spins me around," Carr said. "I holler at the guy and he just keeps on trucking."
Any closer, Carr said he worries the outcome would have been different.
"That could’ve been my life right there," he said. "Just a few inches to the left, you know me to the left or him to the right, I could’ve left all three of my kids here without me and my wife."
Though Carr and his crew were working on city streets in Indianapolis, stories like his are examples of why lawmakers explored initiatives like the Safe Zones Pilot Program.
Road workers like Carr said they hope drivers take it seriously and hope the program holds drivers accountable.
"Just slow down," he said. "Let everybody get where they’re going. Let us all get home at the end of the day, instead of you being in a rush and possibly killing someone just because you want to get home maybe five minutes quicker."
INDOT can have the Safe Zones technology in up to four worksites at a time. The department said it will announce additional locations that will utilize those cameras at a later date.
The initiative is currently a five-year pilot program. INDOT officials said the goal is for the program to eventually become permanent.