FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 16, 2022
MITA urges support for work zone safety measures
LANSING, Mich. – Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association (MITA), issued the following statement urging support for House Bill 5750 and Senate Bill 874, bi-partisan legislation from Sen. Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) and Rep. Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette) that would allow for the placement of automated speed cameras in construction zones to protect Michigan’s road workers:
“We support this commonsense bipartisan legislation that would ensure our construction workers are protected while they’re hard at work fixing Michigan’s roads. Construction sites are dangerous places, especially when working on the side of highways with traffic moving at high rates of speed and distracted driving. By adding automated speed cameras to construction zones, we can help protect our construction workers by strictly enforcing work zone speed limits.
“In 2020, there were 4,035 work zone crashes alone in Michigan that resulted in 14 work zone fatalities and 1,050 work zone injuries. Keeping our road workers safe is a top priority for MITA. Ensuring our construction workers have safe work zones is a big reason why we are heavily involved with the Michigan Work Zone Safety Task Force, an effort between the highway construction industry, MITA, and the Michigan Department of Transportation focused on making work zones safe across Michigan. MITA works tirelessly to make sure the safety of our work zones is a top priority, and this legislation is a part of that effort.
“Let’s put the lives and safety of our construction workers first and make sure they are protected while on the job site. We look forward to working with the legislature to ensure our construction workers have a safe day in the office fixing Michigan’s roads.”
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The Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association is a statewide trade association that represents a broad spectrum of heavy construction companies and suppliers that help build a better Michigan from the ground up. For more information, visit thinkmita.org.
