ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Wes Moore and Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller have announced a substantial set of recommendations (PDF) to improve safety on Maryland roadways and decrease the number of crashes and fatalities in work zones. The announcements follow finalized recommendations of the Work Zone Safety Work Group, which was established by the Governor in April. Lieutenant Governor Miller served as chair.
“Our administration takes work zone safety incredibly seriously, and our work has only just begun,” said Gov. Moore. “These comprehensive recommendations led by Lieutenant Governor Miller will guide our administration as we implement an aggressive strategy to make our roads safer and protect the people who work on them – beginning with the actions we’re taking today.”
The Work Zone Safety Group’s recommendations were developed and approved by a diverse team of highway safety experts, law enforcement, labor leaders and roadway workers. The recommendations were informed by more than 2,000 members of the public, who completed a survey and voiced what they wanted to see changed in order to make work zones safer.
“Every Maryland worker deserves to go to work and be confident that they will return home safely to their families at the end of the day,” said Lt. Gov. Miller. “By increasing driver education and awareness on workzones and enhancing enforcement tactics, the finalized recommendations of the Work Zone Safety Work Group will spark a culture change around the way motorists behave when traveling through a work zone.”
Upon the release of the recommendations, Governor Moore announced the State of Maryland will be taking immediate action to adopt recommendations in the report and protect roadway workers, including:
- Increasing the presence of Maryland state troopers in work zones and coordinating with local law enforcement to boost additional officer enforcement presence in work zones.
- Working with the Maryland State Department of Education to implement a new work zone safety campaign in schools.
The State of Maryland also announced $500,000 in immediate funding for work zone safety awareness and educational campaigns.
These recommendations aim to spark a culture change among Maryland motorists through initiatives designed to increase driver education and awareness on work zones, and enhance enforcement tactics for violating traffic laws in a work zone, including:
- Updating the Maryland driver manual to educate drivers about what to do in a work zone.
- Partnering with high profile leaders in the community to spread the message about work zone safety.
- Working to implement educational campaigns in schools – so culture change can stem from our young people.
- Increasing the number of speed cameras deployed in the state and removing antiquated technologies that prevent camera deployment.
- Raising the citation for speeding in a work zone from $40 – which is currently the lowest speed camera citation amount in the nation.
So far this year there have been more than 1,100 crashes in work zones in Maryland. The complete recommendations of the group can be accessed here.
