If you’ve ever found yourself driving through a construction zone, you know that these zones often restrict speed. Depending on the work going on and the space taken up by workers and construction vehicles, the work zone speed limit could be 10, 15, or even 20 mph below the normal posted limit.
Work zone speed limits exist for a few reasons. It’s not wise to let cars zoom through narrow, often uneven lanes with temporary traffic patterns at full speed. New directions and barriers could arise unexpectedly, endangering the lives of drivers and construction personnel, who often work just feet from moving traffic. Sometimes, construction machinery may need to enter the roadway, and for everyone’s safety, it’s probably best that you don’t fly by them at 75 mph when that happens.
Despite these obvious concerns, people regularly speed through construction zones, ignoring the temporary restriction either because they’re not paying attention or because they don’t care about the added risks. To get people to take construction zones seriously, New York State Troopers went undercover as 15% of The Village People—no, not the Native American or Leatherman—to catch speeders and other violators in the act.
Last week, the Troop T division of the New York State Police—the squad fully dedicated to policing New York’s vast, 570-mile Thruway system—held a “targeted enforcement” event called “Operation Hard Hat.” Done in support of National Work Zone Awareness Week, the event allowed troopers to go undercover as construction workers and lie in wait with speed guns in construction zones to catch people in the act without drivers being able to spot them.
The methodology is simple but pretty genius. Basically, the officers dress up in construction worker gear, complete with hard hats and high-visibility vests, and stand on top of construction trucks with handheld or tripod-mounted speed guns, clocking motorists who are blasting through the zone too quickly. They relay the info to a trooper in a squad car further down the road, who pulls over the offending driver and issues a ticket. If the undercover officer notices other violations, like a driver using their cell phone or not wearing a seatbelt, they can get flagged, too.
The New York State Police conducts several Hard Hat Operations each year, usually throughout National Work Zone Awareness Week. This time around, its most successful events were two six-hour operations inside work zones located in Westchester and Rockland counties. In those two blocks of time alone, police issued a staggering 313 tickets, the majority of which—197 citations—were for speeding. Another 28 tickets were issued for cell phone use, and 27 were issued for New York’s “Move Over” law, which requires drivers to slow down and move over for any emergency, construction, or maintenance vehicle stopped on the shoulder.
Additional Hard Hat Operations were held by Troops C, E, and K throughout highways across the state last week, adding another 434 tickets to the enforcement period, for a total of 747 citations issued. Here’s the full breakdown of the laws people were alleged to have broken, per the Thruway Authority’s press release:
- 452 – Speeding
- 47 – Move Over Law violations
- 45 – Cell phone/electronic device use
- 203 – Other vehicle and traffic law violations
New York has been doing these sorts of undercover jobs for years, but the State only made it an official thing in 2019, when it was officially recognized statewide as Operation Hard Hat by the governor. That year, New York State Police issued a total of 1,048 tickets to motorists and even caught a couple of people allegedly driving drunk. Going by the governor’s office website, the record for yearly tickets accumulated through Operation Hard Hat was set in 2022, when state police issued a total of 3,062 citations.
The lesson here? Listen to those posted speed limit signs in construction zones, and put the phone down. Failing to do either puts yourself and others in danger. And if you happen to be driving through an enforcement zone in New York, it could land you a very pricey ticket (traffic violation fines are usually doubled in work zones) courtesy of Victor Willis cosplaying as David Hodo.
Top graphic images: New York State Police; Casablanca Records
I am a supporter of constraints on traffic behavior, but when I travel, most of these construction zones don’t need you to do 60mph when there is absolutely nothing going on beyond a closed shoulder or a mild traffic shift.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zouxzzdRSMo
If there’s one thing I can give the province of Alberta beyond being the birthplace of my spouse, it’s their use of speed cameras and triple fines in construction zones.
Even the most douchebag jacked up peen mobiles adhere to the speed limit postings in construction zones. Damn near 100% effective.
I do not miss the days of doing service calls on the side of the road, feels like playing dodgeball with an ICBM.
“Operation Hard Hat”? Has no one out there ever seen Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke?
Bye-bye Lardass!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzvexS4uEdE&t=9s
I know a highway worker who was paralyzed by a speeding car.
Whoever getting tickets in work zones gets zero sympathy from me.
My dad used to work construction and would occasionally be along the shoulder of a busy highway. I also have zero sympathy for anyone getting tickets in a work zone.
Dude. 17% (by rounding 16.666666…%). Not 15%. Dude.
Pedantic stamp of approval.
I’m always disappointed that speeding is easiest thing to target rather than the prevalence of mobile phone use out there (and resulting drifting between the lines).
No reason to not do both. And freeing up cops from enforcing workzone speed gives them more time to enforce distracted driving laws. Which is what should be enforced, not just touching a cell phone. Which IMHO is no more or less distracting than eating or putting on makeup or as I have seen multiple times – reading a book! And the first times were before driving assistance was a thing.
Mixed feelings here. Like everyone, I am frustrated with people who speed in work zones, and that includes when there isn’t a person at work in the work zone – the road is still narrowed, chopped up, redirected, etc., so slowing down makes sense.
My problem here is that it should be obvious that it works much better if a visible trooper with his blue lights on hangs out in the work zone. Isn’t it better for everyone if people see a visible police presence and slow down?
If a hidden cop pulls someone for speeding in a work zone that means they’ve already put people in danger. Sure, punishing the speeder is satisfying, but getting everyone to slow down is safe.
And don’t get me started on Maryland (and now Virginia’s) cameras. They don’t work. People either don’t notice them or see them as a “speed tax” where they can just pay the ticket and speed. Plus they funnel money into private companies looking to make a buck off of speeders.
When I see a cop with lights on in a construction zone, it’s usually there just to close a ramp or protect a crew on the shoulder. Knowing that he can’t leave that post, no one slows down.
On the other hand, if I see a line of cruisers picking people out of the crowd I know actual enforcement is going on, even though by the time I see the lights I know we’re all well past the guy who clocked us. That’s an effective warning to traffic in the oncoming lanes and hopefully they’ll slow down as well.
Potato/Potah-to – Not contending they shouldn’t be pulling people over. Just saying they should be visible. “Gotcha” enforcement isn’t necessary if you can get people to slow down. A trooper parked and obviously pointing a radar can focus on pulling over people who are brazen enough to ignore him.
Technically they were dressed as 33% of the Village People. In addition to the construction worker there was a motorcycle cop in the band.
Came here for this.
So, you’re saying their shirts WERE buttoned?
As someone who has spend much of my life doing roadwork (actually utility work, but in the road way) I love the idea of this. You have no idea how little respect many (most) driver have for people working in traffic until you’re standing out there.
That being said, if I was standing in the back of a truck all day in a work zone, I would make damn sure the back of the truck had a crash attenuator on it and not a loading ramp kept at the perfect level to decapitate some inattentive driver if he hits the back of the truck (bottom photo). A crash attenuator (crash box) mounted to the back of a truck limits the impact of a rear ender to crew of the truck but it makes huge difference in the survivability of a crash unfortunate inattentive driver of whatever hits the truck.
My thought exactly looking at the pictures, if someone plows into the back of that truck the driver and the officer are gonna have a bad day
Looking more closely, the top truck (the one with the arrow board) has an attenuator, you can see it through the guardrail, but the lower one is a fatality (maybe multiple) waiting to happen.
I used to work on a utility survey crew and very often people would throw stuff at us (usually convenience store drink cups) as they drove by. I didn’t even need to be on the pavement, just close enough that they thought they’d get some points if they could hit the hi-vis vest.
Jerks.
You outta see I-81 going into Syracuse NY. Ever since the highway redevelopment project started, there’s been nothing but construction on Syracuse highways and even city streets for the past 3-ish years…. and 75-80mph is the standard speed 99% of drivers want to do still.
Even worse still are a good chunk of 18 wheelers doing 70+ through the zones, with lanes that’ll scare a normal driver doing 55, even with cameras, Grand Cherokee speed traps, and the police on the look out to prevent the speeding.
Upstaters here do NOT care lmao
Oh I’ve been, and totally agree that area is the wild west
Yes so much this. And these truckers have the nerve to blast their horn at me doing speed limit on the right lane, because they are too chickenshit to change lanes where marked solid.
No one is obligated to go above the PSL when he/she’s already on the right lane.
“Despite these obvious concerns, people regularly speed through construction zones, ignoring the temporary restriction either because they’re not paying attention or because they don’t care about the added risks.”
So normally I’m the first person to harshly condemn speeding.
HOWEVER
I have a big peeve at how often I pass through a jobsite with a low speed limit FOR NO REASON. It might be a Sunday, there are no workers, the road is fine, there are cones over on the shoulder only. Even so the speed limit is lowered for miles and miles even though there are multiple lanes wide open. Bonus peeve for insufficient signage letting people know they’re still in the zone or that its ended and OK to go faster.
So I understand people being jaded at construction zones speed limits when the power to lower speed limits is abused like this.
Two months after construction has ended, pylons picked up, temp barriers long since removed, and lines freshly painted – and it’s still posted at 20-under.
Or, post down the road, drop some pylons on the side of the road, and work doesn’t start until September?
I get it, there could be a surveyor showing up at random times to double-check things – but we have the technology for digital signage that we can adjust as appropriate and give people no excuses (heck, the UK has them throughout)
Agreed. Active digital signage is the answer.
Agreed. Half of the time I see a construction zone with a lowered speed limit there are no workers present and the lanes are no different than normal. In that case I have no problem ignoring the construction speed limit.
Agreed. Too large a percentage of the times you encounter a construction reduced speed posting, it is unwarranted, which makes the valid ones less effective or ineffective.
I’ve seen construction sites where they just forgot to clean up all of the damn signs. One of my neighbors still has one on their easement after three years. (Part of that is on them for not tossing it or calling someone.)
One of our local roads had a major slow-down merge for a lane closure that was nothing more than 300 meters of signs making one move over for no apparent reason. No cones after the last sign, no patch work, no nothing. I assume that they were planning to do the work at some point, but damn it was inconvenient and annoying!
I agree with you on this one.
Some states do post them as “when workers are present”, which is the correct way assuming the lanes aren’t infringed upon. If the lanes are narrowed or zigzgging, or merging because of the work, then fine, lower speed limit until it’s done.
I get the idea, but protect and serve becomes entrap and generate cash.
I get your idea, but this is absolutely not a case of entrapment at all.
I appreciate the theatrics, but Maryland takes a more simple approach and sets up mobile speed cameras in works zones. They warn you with signage, have a ‘your speed’ sign, and then a space where there may, may not be the speed camera (which is mounted on the back of an SUV, usually parked behind a porta-john).
Connecticut is starting to use these as well. The problem with them (at least in CT) is that they have signage warning you that it’s there, so the drivers just slow down at the camera location the once past it, speed right back up. It works in a small workzone (like bridge work) but is pretty much useless on a long workzone like a milling/repaving job or pipeline work.
Does the A Troop override the B Troop and does the B Troop override the C Troop, that overrides the D Troop…..? Why not just call them all State Troopers?
Me: Yeah, passed my Trooper test and getting a job in NY
Friend: What Troop are you in?
Me: Z
Friend: so you’re at the very bottom, what was your test score? 60%?
F Troop at Fort Courage would have something to say about this.
CPL Agarn, Don’t you have some scam to be running instead of commenting here?
If NY State troopers are doing this in an active work zone, I’m completely fine with speeders getting ticketed.
If, on the other hand, they are creating fake work zones where no actual workers are working, this sucks. From the photos, this seems to be what they are doing.
Edit: I just looked it up. Enforcement actions were in active work zones. Probably a helpful piece of context to add to the main article since the photos don’t really show that.
https://troopers.ny.gov/news/numerous-tickets-issued-drivers-during-operation-hard-hat
I used to regularly drive between Michigan and North Carolina, and for literal years there was “construction” for 30-50 miles along I74 that was just cones along the shoulder. Regardless of time time of day, or the day of the week; there was never an actual truck or crew along that stretch of freeway, and after a few years of driving through it, it seems to me; it was just a reason to double ticket rates due to it being a “Construction Zone”
Do they have an F-troop?
and then there is the troop that the real badasses are sent to: FU Troop
AgarrrRrRRRRN!