The New York State Police, the State Department of Transportation, and the Thruway Authority announced that State Police and local law enforcement agencies issued a record number of tickets during 2021’s Operation Hardhat, a joint initiative that seeks to crack down on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving when encountering construction, maintenance, and emergency operations along state highways. A total of 2,336 tickets were issued during Operation Hardhat details this year, breaking the previous record of 2,018 tickets set last year. The new record comes as New York State continues to experience an alarming number of work zone intrusions and further highlights the need for motorists to slow down and drive carefully through work zones.
Tickets issued in 2021 included the following violations:
- Speeding – 855
- Cell Phone – 434
- Seatbelts – 254
- Failure to Move Over – 167
- Failure to Obey Flagger – 1
- Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device – 4
- Other Violations – 621
Operation Hardhat details resulted in violations in almost every region of the state, including:
- Hudson Valley – 326
- Long Island – 311
- Capital Region – 263
- Central New York – 196
- Southern Tier – 490
- Mohawk Valley – 251
- Western New York – 99
- North Country – 67
- NYS Thruway – 135
- New York City – 16
Under “Operation Hardhat,” police officers are present within the work zones – dressed as highway maintenance workers – to identify motorists who are distracted by electronic devices while driving, disobey flagging personnel, speed through the work zone or violate the state’s Move Over Law, which applies to both emergency and maintenance vehicles.
This is not just a New York issue. the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) created the Our Roads, Our Safety campaign to help drivers travel safely, slowly and attentively through work zones, particularly when around commercial motor vehicles (CMV).
Leave a Reply