15-day license suspension for speeding at least 11 mph above posted limit - Figured you might be interested.

06/23/2003 - Fort Washington, PA.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) is joining with law enforcement to issue an important reminder: new work zone safety laws take effect today (June 23, 2003), and you can lose your license for certain
violations.

Act 229 of 2002, which toughens work zone laws in Pennsylvania, was signed into law last December. Beginning today, Act 229 calls for a 15-day driver's license suspension for motorists who are caught speeding 11 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit in an active work zone. Additionally, there will be zero tolerance for speeding in an active work zone. A motorist can now be cited for traveling even one mile per hour over the posted speed limit in an active work zone.

Also, fines and points are doubled in all active work zones. Active work zones are places within a work area where workers are actually present. A flashing light mounted on a sign that reads "Active Work Zone When Flashing" will identify these zones. At the end of the active work zone, another signs will be placed that reads "End Active Work Zone PENNDOT and other highway agencies and contractors must turn the flashing lights off when work stops for more than one hour to indicate that the work zone is no longer active. Work zones that are of a short duration or have minimal
impact on traffic will not use the new signs.
"We have an important message for motorists who refuse to observe work zone laws...if you speed, tailgate or drive aggressively in a work zone, you will be caught and if found guilty of speeding 11 mph or more, you're going to lose your
driver's license," Secretary of Transportation Allen D. Biehler, P.E. said. "My thanks to the members of the General Assembly for creating these new and tougher laws aimed at protecting the lives of our highway workers."

According to PENNDOT, 27 people lost their lives in Pennsylvania during 2002 in highway construction work zones. This is a 35 percent increase over 2001 when 20 people died in work zone crashes. Most of these fatalities (24) are
motorists, not workers.

"The two main reasons for work zone crashes are speeding and inattentive driving", PENNDOT District Administrator Andrew L. Warren said. "We urge motorists to slow down and pay attention when driving through highway construction. It's not worth risking your life or the life of someone else, just to save less than a minute's worth of travel time."

Studies show that it takes less than a minute more to travel through a two-mile-long work zone at 45 miles per hour than at 65 miles per hour. If a motorist is traveling at 60 miles per hour, it will take only 17 seconds from passing the sign that say "Road Work 1500 Feet" until he or she enters the work zone.

For more information, please visit the project website at http://www.309online.com.