New York State troopers deployed into work zones to monitor drivers' speeds during road construction season
State troopers have been deployed in construction work zones to issue tickets for speeders. Credit: Tom Lambui
The next road construction worker you pass on the highway may be a state trooper.
State police and the Department of Transportation are launching the annual Operation Hard Hat to target unsafe driving through work construction zones on Long Island and throughout the state.
State troopers were stationed Monday on the Meadowbrook Parkway as part of National Work Zone Awareness Week. One trooper, embedded with transportation workers, was dressed in a hard hat and construction uniform to look for speeding or distracted drivers or drivers who did not follow the state’s "Move Over" law, which requires lane changes away from stopped road crews or emergency vehicles.
"We do an operation throughout construction season, and now that construction season is getting underway here, this is the beginning of it," said Stephen Canzoneri, a DOT spokesman for Long Island’s District 10. "So whenever you see a work zone, you'll never know if there's going to be a trooper in that work zone or not."
During last year’s Work Zone Awareness Week, troopers issued more than 12,000 tickets statewide, said state police Capt. Vincent Augeri.
State police and transportation officials are planning operations statewide through construction season, which runs through November. Speeding fines and driver’s license points penalties are doubled in work zones and can top $600, depending on the speed, according to the state.
Violations for not following the state’s "Move Over" law start with a $150 fine and two points off a driver’s license. The state can also suspend a driver’s license for two or more work zone violations.
State troopers are working undercover in construction sites, dressed in orange vests and hard hats, looking for violations. The troopers can then radio ahead to marked blue and gold state police cars down the road to stop vehicles to issue warnings and tickets.
Police said the goal is to make drivers more likely to slow down in work zones to speeds of 55 mph or lower.
"We’re deployed in such a way that the troopers stay hidden, and then they are deployed once a speeder comes through the work zone or an aggressive driver comes through the work zone," Augeri said. "So, if you do drive aggressively, speed or don't move over, chances are you're going to get stopped driving through the work zone."
State officials said there were more than 450 drivers who entered closed construction sites on highways and roads last year in New York. Crashes in those zones killed four people in the state last year and injured 161 people, including highway workers and drivers or passengers.
Officials pointed to prior fatal crashes, including when Patrick Mapleson, 66, of Ridge was struck and killed on March 17, 2006, by a driver who reached for his water bottle and hit Mapleson as he filled potholes on Sunrise Highway in East Moriches.
State police have been working with DOT on Operation Hard Hat for the past six years and it comes in conjunction with automated speed camera tickets that issue fines starting at $50 for speeding through specified work zones.
Officials said last month that work zone cameras on Long Island have issued 2,181 notices of liability tracked to a vehicle owner’s registration. Last year the cameras on Long Island work zones issued 18,986 notices, and in about seven months in 2023, issued 47,445 notices, officials said.
The next road construction worker you pass on the highway may be a state trooper.
State police and the Department of Transportation are launching the annual Operation Hard Hat to target unsafe driving through work construction zones on Long Island and throughout the state.
State troopers were stationed Monday on the Meadowbrook Parkway as part of National Work Zone Awareness Week. One trooper, embedded with transportation workers, was dressed in a hard hat and construction uniform to look for speeding or distracted drivers or drivers who did not follow the state’s "Move Over" law, which requires lane changes away from stopped road crews or emergency vehicles.
"We do an operation throughout construction season, and now that construction season is getting underway here, this is the beginning of it," said Stephen Canzoneri, a DOT spokesman for Long Island’s District 10. "So whenever you see a work zone, you'll never know if there's going to be a trooper in that work zone or not."
During last year’s Work Zone Awareness Week, troopers issued more than 12,000 tickets statewide, said state police Capt. Vincent Augeri.
State police and transportation officials are planning operations statewide through construction season, which runs through November. Speeding fines and driver’s license points penalties are doubled in work zones and can top $600, depending on the speed, according to the state.
Violations for not following the state’s "Move Over" law start with a $150 fine and two points off a driver’s license. The state can also suspend a driver’s license for two or more work zone violations.
State troopers are working undercover in construction sites, dressed in orange vests and hard hats, looking for violations. The troopers can then radio ahead to marked blue and gold state police cars down the road to stop vehicles to issue warnings and tickets.
Police said the goal is to make drivers more likely to slow down in work zones to speeds of 55 mph or lower.
"We’re deployed in such a way that the troopers stay hidden, and then they are deployed once a speeder comes through the work zone or an aggressive driver comes through the work zone," Augeri said. "So, if you do drive aggressively, speed or don't move over, chances are you're going to get stopped driving through the work zone."
State officials said there were more than 450 drivers who entered closed construction sites on highways and roads last year in New York. Crashes in those zones killed four people in the state last year and injured 161 people, including highway workers and drivers or passengers.
Officials pointed to prior fatal crashes, including when Patrick Mapleson, 66, of Ridge was struck and killed on March 17, 2006, by a driver who reached for his water bottle and hit Mapleson as he filled potholes on Sunrise Highway in East Moriches.
State police have been working with DOT on Operation Hard Hat for the past six years and it comes in conjunction with automated speed camera tickets that issue fines starting at $50 for speeding through specified work zones.
Officials said last month that work zone cameras on Long Island have issued 2,181 notices of liability tracked to a vehicle owner’s registration. Last year the cameras on Long Island work zones issued 18,986 notices, and in about seven months in 2023, issued 47,445 notices, officials said.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
Dangerous Roads: Financial toll of crashes ... LI's Macchio on new 'Karate Kid' ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Dangerous Roads: Financial toll of crashes ... LI's Macchio on new 'Karate Kid' ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
