10-12-2001
		New law cracks down on drivers in construction zones

By Elisabeth Bont

Community News Editor

Michigan motorists may think car accidents in highway construction zones are infrequent, but the Michigan state Senate recently made it a point to change their minds.

Under a newly passed bill, nicknamed Andy's Law, Michigan drivers who injure highway construction workers face up to one year in prison, and those who kill a worker up to 15 years in prison, plus a $7,500 fine.

Construction companies are also required to post the new regulations in construction zones to warn drivers.

The law, which went into effect Oct. 1, was created in response to a 30 percent increase in construction zone crashes and accidents since 1997, crashes that killed 26 Michigan workers in 1999 alone.

``Despite all of our progress to address construction zone safety, the threat to highway workers in Michigan has never been greater,'' said Senator Bill Bullard (R-Highland), sponsor of the bill. ``This bill sends a clear signal to motorists that injuring or killing our highway workers is unacceptable.''

Long a project of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Michigan Road Builders Association (MRBA), the law was named for Andrew Lefko, a 19-year-old highway worker who was severely injured on a southeast Michigan highway in 1999.

``The driver who hit Andy served only forty-five days, has violated probation three times since the accident, and is still driving,'' said Diane Wasson, Lefko's mother, in a meeting of the House Criminal Justice Committee this summer.

``At the same time, my son is sentenced to a lifetime trapped in his own body, unable to speak or walk,'' she said.

Motorists have often faced similarly light penalties, said Ari Adler, director of communications for the Department of Transportation, and MDOT and road construction industry hope the new law will provide county prosecutors with a consistent guideline for sentencing.

``You hope you never have to use it,'' he said.

Recent accidents caused the death of a foreman on a Muskegon highway in 2000 -- for which the driver, who was drunk, spent 18 moths in jail -- and the injuring of three workers in early June on a highway outside Niles.

The new law is the strongest step in MDOT's ongoing attempt to keep road workers safe. Other tactics employed in recent years include doubling fines, staggering speed limits and increasing law enforcement patrols in construction zones. Safety training for highway workers has also increased.

Unfortunately, the desire to keep workers safe often conflicts with the push to keep traffic moving.

Recently, crews have been working round-the-clock, seven days a week when possible, to finish projects quickly. MDOT also encourages companies to close as few lanes as possible, which removes buffer zones between workers and motorists and puts workers at a greater risk, said Adler.

Out on the highway, ``the only thing between you and that car is a plastic barrel,'' he said.

MDOT Director Gregory Rosine hopes the new law will communicate urgency to drivers who don't think they pose a threat to construction workers: ``There is a distinct difference between how people say they drive versus their actual behavior,'' he said.

Although most people say they slow down for construction signs and believe they are telling the truth, ``speed tests show that the majority of people speed up momentarily,'' Rosine said.

Members of the Michigan Road Builders Association agree that action to reach aggressive drivers and crack down on offenders is sorely needed and long overdue.

``We have done so much to minimize the inconvenience to the drivers,'' said Gary Naeyaert, director of government and public relations for the group. ``What we need is for them to return the favor.

``The employees of our members are the ones out there on the front lines, literally putting their lives at risk,'' he said.

``Our employees start each work day not knowing if they will make it home that night,'' said Chris Shea, president of PK Contracting in Troy. ``We need these stiffer penalties if we are going to get through to some drivers out there.''

Naeyaert called the new law ``the last, missing piece in our arsenal'' and added, ``People have not listened to everything else. What we needed was the threat of harder enforcement.''

MDOT also intends for the law to work not as a punishment but rather as ``one more deterrent that might get people to slow down in construction zones,'' said Adler.

``We don't look upon this new law as a way to put people in jail. It's about having workers get home to their families every night,'' he said.

Naeyaert worries further action might be necessary, however, and he's not afraid to take it.

If the new law doesn't stop motorists from injuring highway construction workers, ``we may be forced to lobby for the total closure of all major road projects,'' he said, pointing out that ``if a road project is done without traffic, it's faster, it's safer and it's cheaper.''

Adler doesn't believe such extreme action will be necessary, but he agrees drivers are often unaware of the dangers they pose to workers.

``What else can you do?'' he asked. ``What can you do to convince people that saving five minutes going through a construction zone is not worth someone's life?