LANSING, Mich. – Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association (MITA), issued the following statement after the House Judiciary Committee voted in support of House Bill 5750, legislation that would allow for the placement of automated speed cameras in certain construction zones to protect Michigan’s road workers:
“We’re glad to see the House Judiciary Committee take action to support House Bill 5750 that would protect road construction workers while they’re hard at work fixing Michigan’s roads. Construction sites are dangerous places, especially when working on the side of highways with traffic moving at high rates of speed. Placing automated speed cameras in construction zones would help protect our construction workers by strictly enforcing work zone speed limits.
“In 2020, there were 4,035 work zone crashes alone in Michigan that resulted in 14 work zone fatalities and 1,050 work zone injuries. Recent data shows that those numbers will increase over the next decade if we don’t take action to stop it.
“Keeping our road workers safe is a top priority for MITA. Ensuring our construction workers have safe work zones is a big reason why we are heavily involved with the Michigan Work Zone Safety Task Force, an effort between the highway construction industry, MITA, and the Michigan Department of Transportation focused on making work zones safe across Michigan. Our organizations have worked hard on making our work zones safer over the past couple years, and we’re excited to see this legislation move out of committee and before the House for full consideration.
“Let’s put the lives and safety of our construction workers first and make sure they are protected while on the job site. We look forward to the House acting very soon to pass House Bill 5750 to ensure our construction workers have a safe day in the office fixing Michigan’s roads.”
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The Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association is a statewide trade association that represents a broad spectrum of heavy construction companies and suppliers that help build a better Michigan from the ground up. For more information, visit thinkmita.org.