(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
(Photo by Frank Sparks)

“You need to put stiff penalties in place so that people pay attention.”

And stiff penalties are precisely the order of Senate Bill 614, dubbed the “Work Zone Safety Bill”, which was introduced by Pennsylvania State Senator Elder Vogel (R/47th) earlier this year. Vogel talked with Matt Drzik on the June 15 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about this bill currently in process mode within Harrisburg.

Under SB 614, any Pennsylvania driver who commits a violation within a work zone (speeding, collision, etc.) would be fined $400, lose two points on their driving record, and take part in a mandatory PennDOT safety course on the first offense. Vogel said that the penalties are stiff for a good reason: “We wanted to basically send a message to people that we take this very seriously; we take work zone safeties very serious, and we take the safety of the workers in the work zones very seriously,” he stated. “Thirty or forty people get killed in work zones every year in the state of Pennsylvania.”

The bill is currently under consideration by the Transportation committee, but Vogel says that it has already received considerable support. “It’s got bipartisan support on it,” Vogel said, “because everybody across the state–especially in the central part of the state and the northern tier–they have a lot of road issues like this as well, and they understand the concerns of PennDOT and their local road crews.” Vogel believes that the earliest that the bill could be passed through Harrisburg is by early fall of 2022.

To listen to the full interview with Senator Vogel, click on the player below.