Operation “Hardhat” Designed to Help Road Crews
Road crews in New York work alongside unpredictable traffic every day, and their lives depend on drivers being careful and driving safely. It is immensely crucial that drivers get rid of distractions, focus on driving, and pay close attention to workers on the road.
Operation Hardhat is an annual educational and enforcement initiative between the NY Department of Transportation, NY Thruway Authority, NY Police, and local police to help ensure the safety of road workers. It runs from April 26 to 30 during the National Work Zone Awareness Week to catch work zone violations committed by motorists. This year’s efforts resulted in the issuance of 444 traffic tickets statewide. The issued tickets include these traffic violations:
- Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device – 1
- Seatbelts – 41
- Failure to Move Over – 47
- Speeding – 81
- Cell Phone Use – 135
- Other traffic violations – 139
Last year’s Operation Hardhat activities resulted in 1,770 tickets, which was higher by 70% from the tickets issued in 2019.
Keeping Work Zones Safe with Operation Hardhat
Highway workers perform very crucial work in typically dangerous circumstances so that we could use the road safely and without any issues. Unfortunately, 135 workers died in highway work zones in 2019. Likewise, almost one-quarter of work zone collisions that resulted in deaths involved rear-end collisions.
During Operation Hardhat, law enforcement officers were stationed in various work zones around the state and were disguised as highway road crews. Their main goal was to catch motorists who don’t follow flagging personnel, are distracted by cell phones or other electronic devices when driving, travel at excess speeds through work zones, and/or don’t follow the Move Over Law that applies to maintenance and emergency vehicles.
As the summer season begins, expect to encounter more construction zones in the state’s roadways where dedicated road crews will be doing maintenance work to ensure everybody’s safety. Understanding and recognizing all signs within and those that lead up to work zones is critically important for roadside crews and all other motorists as well. All motorists must be prepared to adjust their speeds and remain alert when driving through work zones.
Law enforcement officers also point out that fines have been doubled for speeding violations in work zones. Likewise, pursuant to the Work Zone Safety Act, two or more speeding convictions in work zones could lead to driver’s license suspension.
Speak to Our Experienced NYC Construction Accident Lawyers Now
The working conditions and situations in all construction sites are always changing and could change every day or by the hour. Likewise, while the construction industry must abide by federal and state regulations to try and manage the industry’s inherently volatile nature, a lot of accidents still occur.
If you have sustained injuries on the job, the Lipsig, Shapey, Manus & Moverman P.C. law firm can help. You can talk to one of our NYC construction accident lawyers to find out how you can pursue compensation for your injuries, lost wages, and related losses. Schedule your free case evaluation by contacting us online or calling 212-285-3300 today.
