No matter where you’re driving in Pennsylvania these days, there’s practically bound to be construction slowing down your commute.
Construction and work zones present several dilemmas for drivers, ranging from increased congestion on the road to potentially heavy fines for speeding and other violations. Now, a relatively new program enforced throughout Pennsylvania is helping commonwealth officials crack down on speeding through work zones and improve safety.
But do work zone speed limits apply if you can’t see any active construction in progress? Here’s what the law says in Pennsylvania.
How is work zone speeding monitored in Pennsylvania?
Although law enforcement typically works to control speeding on major roads and highways throughout Pennsylvania, speeds in work zones are now largely monitored through the commonwealth’s Work Zone Speed Safety Camera (WZSSC) program .
The program, signed into law in 2018 and launched in early 2020, centers on a system that detects and monitors the speed of vehicles passing through Pennsylvania work zones. When the system determines a vehicle driving through a work zone is traveling at least 11 mph or more above the posted speed limit, it captures images of the front and rear of the vehicle and related information — such as the speed limit, location, date and time — to create a violation later matched with vehicle ownership information.